Baleful Blossom
by opens up 4 nobody
Summary: The Lady Sanji Black is quite frankly sick of her paper thin mask of pleasantries and too sweet smiles. She is tired of not being taken seriously when she is a force to be reckoned with. She wants adventure and excitement. She wanted something to change, so she makes that change for herself.
1. Pedestrian At Best

My internal monologue is saturated analog  
It's scratched and drifting, I've become attached to the idea  
It's all a shifting dream, bittersweet philosophy  
I've got no idea how I even got here  
I'm resentful, I'm having an existential time crisis  
Want bliss, daylight savings won't fix this mess  
Under-worked and over-sexed, I must express my disinterest  
The rats are back inside my head, what would Freud have said?

-"Pedestrian At Best" Courtney Barnett

XxxX

"Sit up straight, child," tutted the Lady Robin as she glanced over at the blond girl sitting at the table opposite her. For half a second irritation flashed over the girl's pretty pale face but it smoothed over quickly as she straightened up and continued to eat her food like a proper Lady should. Very good, she was well trained in the art of loveliness.

This tall, thin girl was the Lady Sanji of the house Black, ward of the royal family and betrothed to their only son, Sir Crocodile, until she should come of age, which would be any time now as she was sixteen years old.

She had been taken from her home in a castle of the East Blue Isles when said castle was ransacked by the King's men. Sanji had been taken as hostage but the castle had since been rebuilt and she still had the rights to the lands from which she was taken, or rather her husband would, when she was wed, and that was why she had been a candidate for a good wife for the prince. The royal family was always looking to extend their lands and power. Right now some knight was ruling over that bit of land and he wasn't doing that great a job of it, there were stories about trade being cut off from the city for some of the things this knight had done while in command. This knight went along undisturbed by the people's unrest through the power of fear. He didn't understand the easterners but he knew how to provoke fear in people.

Lady Sanji herself was a true eastern girl beautiful in her own little way, her face was thin and pale, even of features, she had lovely ocean blue eyes framed by long lashes, her hair fell to her back in a golden sheen not completely straight but not totally wavy either, pulled away from her face and braided at the back. She was tall, taller than quite a few boys at five feet and eleven inches but sometimes she liked being taller than them, it made her feel powerful and she never had to wear lifted shoes. Lucky for her, she was just on that delicate edge of being too tall.

She lacked the curves most girls were gifted with and her chest was relatively small. Her most obvious flaw was that her eyebrows both curled to the left, making her face look abstract and asymmetrical but that was easily solved with the edge of a razor, as she had been told from a young age. She sat tall and proper as she ate her meal, her face painted with color to make her beautiful and showing only a patient smile. She was trying her hardest to make it look patient and not patronizing but it took a lot of effort. It was such a delicate balance, controlling the facial muscles like that.

Underneath that pleasant face, the girl's head throbbed in pain, she hated this situation, she had better things she could be doing than practicing table etiquette, something she had been doing since she was old enough to sit at a table, but she was a lady and a lady must hold her tongue because no one cared how unhappy she was.

They want a pretty face, not a sharp tongue, she repeated the words over in her head but she couldn't stop herself from internally rolling her eyes. Ever since she was little she had been taught all the rules and lessons she must learn so that one day she could be sold off as some Lord's whore- wife. That was the thing her life was leading to. Getting married and becoming a production house for children, a breeder, the only true use of all castle women.

Some people got to look forward to being awarded to knighthood for their bravery, or a place on some council for their wisdom, or even the top spot in something mundane like being head maid. But not her, she would be given the task of birthing children as a reward for her pretty face and silent mouth. She had been present at a birth once and it was horrific, she vowed that she would never have a child, she would make her husband be the pregnant one... She had been rather young at the time she decided upon that but that lingering horror still stood.

Sanji wasn't perfect, she had never been any good at holding her tongue but she could do mundane the tasks she must learn, like sewing, cooking, and dancing, with ease. She could even take the manners most of the time but it all grew so tiresome day after day, she would rather run around playing with other kids like she did before she had come to this place. Back on the Isles they hadn't been quite so strict, she had been allowed to slack off in her studies of Ladyship. She was probably too old running around like a child now but she felt she could still make up for it if she tried.

In all honestly, Sanji didn't remember much of what her life was like, before she had come to the royal city. She remembered the vast blue ocean sparkling in the sunlight. She sort of remembered the layout of the castle she had lived in, her room had been up in a tower so she could see all the other islands surrounding them out her window. She remembered swimming in the warm water and running from the cold. She could not remember her parents, every time she tried she could only see vague outlines of people without faces, but she supposed that didn't matter, her parents were dead and remembering their faces wouldn't help anything. She still remembered her native language but only because one of her maids growing up had been from the east and spoke the language to her while they were together, Sanji was glad of that. She remembered being allowed to play with other kids when her lessons were done. Most of all she remembered the siege and attacks that had taken her from the castle and left her parents dead.

She had been told since then that her parents had brought it upon themselves but she never bought into that. The castle had been taken because her parents were gathering forces with a lower neighboring kingdom and summoning other small troops against the royal family. They had taken the castle when the gathering of troops was still minor but no chances were going to be taken in this.

It was nearly impossible to effectively attack the main island where the castle was located because of its high cliffs and narrow passes, plus the army had been brought in to defend them, so instead of attacking the royal fleet had cut off all their trade roots and supply lines to try starving them out.

Everyday there was less and less food and the people grew anxious. Smugglers brought food in every so often but it wasn't enough to feed everyone. The meals were cut back and Sanji could still remember that cold empty feeling in her stomach as she laid awake, trying to sleep and forget about how hungry she was. The siege had lasted for four months before the castle was stormed and Sanji's parents were killed.

The opposing soldiers had burst through the doors to the chamber of the king and queen at night and had cut them down in a secret operation before the rest of the soldiers had come in. Sanji had been dragged from her bed by the hair, kicking and screaming. She thought that they were going to kill her but they put her on a boat and set her to the royal kingdom. They intended to brainwash her, marry her off to some Lord and rule the Eastern Isles through a puppet rule and all the while the easterners would be less likely to be unhappy with one from the high family ruling.

From her time since then she had learned everything she now knew and Sanji could do almost all her tasks perfectly but then someone would say something disagreeable to her and her tongue would slip, sharp as the blade, slicing her perfect composer to ribbons and ruining all her illusions. Who wants a pretty flower when it spits acid in your face? She hated all this face painting and dress wearing. Not to say that she didn't like wearing dresses, she did enjoy dressing up but she hated the way it made people look at her and that spoiled all the fun of it. Her dresses made her look like a highborn Lady and a highborn Lady had rules to follow. Plus, most of her dresses were heavy and tight, she sometimes wondered if her maids were trying to suffocate her when she was being dressed.

She may like dresses but she didn't like the makeup, it made her look unlike herself. It was a mask of charm and glamor. There was also the fact that all these things made her easy on the eyes and that made Sanji rather nervous. She was never comfortable when men looked at her like that, in that way they did, she wasn't very good with men in general, especially when they looked down on her as they often did. Or rather, as they always did. She didn't think she would probably make a very good wife mostly because she wanted to kick all the men she met in their stupid faces.

As she sat there being all proper Sanji could feel her blood boiling under the surface of her cream cool composure, the rage was directed at Lady Robin at the moment, although she understood that she was only doing her job. Robin had cared for her like a mother since the day she had arrived in this strange place. Robin only wanted what was best for her, she knew that but that didn't make the anger any less potent, only tinged with guilt.

She wished she were down in the kitchens. She loved to cook and Zeff, the head chef, had taught her how to when he had bullied all the other young kitchen hopefuls away. Zeff was the best chef in probably the entire continent and he was as unfriendly as a wet cat. His teaching style was not for the weak of heart and despite what some people may have believed Sanji was not weak of heart. Far from it, she met all of his prickliness and violence with her own stubbornness and suppressed anger. They frequently clashed both verbally and physically but Zeff taught her all the same, and from him Sanji had learned wonderful things about cooking. She liked to think of herself as the second best chef on the continent and according to everyone she fed it wasn't just her over inflated ego.

Zeff had taught her other things besides cooking as well while Robin turned a decidedly blind eye. Robin liked to give her as many liberties as she could without being caught, of which Sanji was extremely grateful. She wasn't sure what she would do without time to do what she wanted, not what was expected of her. She would probably lose her mind.

She clenched a hand in her lap as she took a bite of an apple, feeling the hard callouses on her skin from the wielding of knives. She did not have a Lady's hands. Zeff had once been a knight, one of the best there ever were but he had lost his leg in some war Sanji didn't care to learn about so he had retired from his service. The King had tried to give him some lesser kingdom to rule, or some counsel to control but Zeff wanted to be the kitchen's head chef and that was all he wanted. So, that was what he was given in return for his services to the throne.

As a knight Zeff had had a very interesting style of fighting. He would wield his sword as well as use his feet as a method of attack. The sword was short and thin, usually just delivered the final blow, piercing the armor. The combination was deadly when executed properly. Sanji trained with him in secret while everyone thought she was just having cooking lessons. She had started the same time she started in the kitchens, while she was still just a dish washer and it didn't matter so much that her hands had blisters. After the skin was well hardened over she started cooking.

She was very good but she wished she had someone else to train with other than the old man. If she asked for a sparring partner she knew that they would go easy on her for being a girl or they would tell someone about her little secret and she would be done for. Curse secrets, they were for snakes and spiders but she was good at keeping them all the same, she had to be. The castle was full of secrets and whispers, Robin had a better ear for them than Sanji ever did.

"You're daydreaming, Sanji," Robin scolded gently, she looked amused rather than unhappy.

"Can I not be a Lady for two seconds?" Sanji sighed, she had been at this all day and it was getting terribly tedious.

Robin smiled. "You can go not be a Lady later but now you have lessons to learn, like how to hold that quick tongue of yours."

Sanji huffed, she knew that but it was still worth the effort to try getting out of it, even when the effort was feeble. They continued to practice until a girl with pumpkin colored hair came dashing into the room and pressed herself against the wall beside the door as three people ran by.

This was the young lady Nami of house Mikan. She was thirteen years of age and if Robin was like a mother, Nami was like a sister to Sanji. Nami had different troubles with being a lady, she could pull it all off but she had a habit of stealing things from whomever she was dazzling. A bit of a kleptomaniac, that one. Assembly, that was why she had ducked into this room to avid whoever it was that rushed down the corridor after her. Always in trouble, sweet Nami.

The girl was promised to the Lord current of Cocoyasi, Arlong. She had been promised to him ever since his family had taken over the city where her family had ruled for hundreds of years, they were roughly the same age and the marriage would consolidate Arlong's family's rule there.

Nami had come to the royal kingdom when she was six to learn how to be a Lady, angry and determined to never marry that fish faced loser whose family had harmed hers and taken advantage of the villages there, sucking all the wealth from them that they could. Her mother, who controversially ruled the city, had been killed in the overthrow by the fishmen but Nami's sister was probably still alive. The two of them had been separated when they castle was attacked Nami had been captured in the castle while Nojiko had escaped. They had not heard of her since.

Nami was not one to let go of any sort of slight against her, especially one where her mother had been killed. So she was a sweet poisonous little flower, ready to damage anyone who crossed her.

Sanji was right with the girl in her sentiment toward her future husband. Sanji would never wish someone like that upon darling Nami. Sanji hated the idea of an arranged marriage in general. She had always had an unrealistic view of love, she knew, but arranged marriages just seemed so cold, especially when it was to Arlong, or even worse Crocodile.

Sir Crocodile was a man who practically oozed slime, and she had heard stories about him. He was a knight but in title only, there was nothing noble or valiant about him. Not that most of the knights Sanji knew were noble or even worth the air they breathed but him most of all. He was nearly twice her age and his last wife had turned up dead, the story was that she had been killed by a drunken guard but rumors said that Crocodile was the one who split her stomach, angry that she had born him no children, or that she had insulted him and he had killed her in his rage. Either of the rumors sounded more plausible than the story according to the official report to Sanji. He had another wife before that who died in childbirth with the baby still born.

Crocodile was prone to violent outbursts, he was vile and he lacked any kind or moral compass. It had been less than a year ago that his wife had died and with Sanji's coming of age being imminent it seemed fitting to tie him to Sanji's lands. All for the sake of extending the reach of the royal family. She sometimes though that she would rather jump from one of the towers in this castle than marry that man but from the looks he gave her it wouldn't bother him one bit if she had done it or not.

Regardless of his rather alarming personality, Crocodile was rather popular with the other knights and it was said that he was unkillable. There was a story that he had once been shot directly in the forehead by a strong bowman's arrow and the thing had passed straight through him like magic. This upset Sanji because if he wasn't able to be killed than she couldn't slit his throat before they were married.

Sanji dreamed of meeting someone who wouldn't look at her like a woman but as an equal, a hard thing to find in this day and age. She wasn't about to bend to the will of some stupid prince who only wanted her for her face and her womb. She hoped that she would never flower, she was already sixteen and she had not bled, maybe the time would never come.

Sanji was grateful when Nami had rushed in, interrupting their little practice. It gave her an excuse to be distracted.

"And what are you doing here, Lady Nami?" implored Robin calmly even though it was pretty obvious what she was doing.

Nami raised her chin in offense at Robin's knowing tone. "Some knights claim that I stole a bag of coins from them while they got drunk and neglected to do their job. I say that it's not my fault when they get drunk and misplace their things, they should be more careful."

Sanji grinned at her and Robin let a small smile touch her lips. "Oh, my girls, what will I ever do with you?" she sighed, shaking her head.

"Stuff us into potato sacs and send us out of the city where you don't have to deal with us anymore," Sanji suggested, she thought that was a pretty good idea herself.

Robin smiled, "Ah, but then who would marry the prince?"

"Someone who's not me," Sanji groaned.

"Don't look at me, I won't do it." Nami shook her head. "I bet that guy kills puppies for fun," she shuddered.

Robin looked at her sharply. "You shouldn't speak so loudly, child, someone might hear you and misinterpret your joke."

Nami scowled, "Fine, but I'm not taking it back."

"Your insults to my future Lord husband are an insult upon me as well," Sanji sighed dramatically, lifting the back of her hand to her forehead and tipping her head back.

"The way I see it, the only way to escape the insult is to not marry the guy," Nami said sweetly.

"But then who would steal my land and put little monsters inside me?" That's all they wanted after all.

"Not some cold blooded, reptile Prince," Nami snorted, "What you need is a true Prince."

Sanji's eyes took on a glassy tone, though not a genuine one. "Oh, how I long to be swept off my feet and carried off with my brave, true Prince Charming," she swooned, "I'd steal his sword and clothes then run off to become a knight, leaving him for the wolves."

Nami liked that idea. "And you could pick me up to guide you across the country killing monsters." The girls grinned at each other. They had this great dream that one day Sanji would become a brave knight, an honest and just knight, and Nami would show her the way to greatness, stealing riches all along the way but Sanji would let it slide as long as it was only from people who could spare it.

They both heard Robin sigh and turned to her. "Sanji, you are free to go," Robin told her, waving a hand toward the door.

Sanji grinned and gave her thanks before she and Nami ran out the door. They both knew exactly where to go; Sanji would run to the smith and fetch the sword she kept there and Nami would run to the library and fetch war books and books about map making. Then they would run to the royal gardens.

Sanji ran as fast as she was able to in her stuffy dress and burst through the doors to Franky's smithery. Franky was a large man with bright blue hair and a very loud personality. He was one of the best iron workers in the kingdom so he had his own shop apart from the other blacksmiths employed by the royal family. Franky's specialty was in making armor, although he could also do a fair amount with swords as well.

Sanji was very glad for him, he had made her the first steel she had ever used. He was only trusted by Sanji because Robin trusted him and anyone Robin trusted must be alright because the woman always seemed to know all the secrets in the world. Sanji wondered if she wasn't some kind of super spy. If she was, then she must be good for not being caught for so long.

"Hey, Franky," Sanji said as she ran to the storage room in the back.

"Hey, little Princess," Franky laughed as she ran past him. He was in the middle of shining a newly made breastplate.

Sanji pushed open the doors to the storage room and went to the back corner for her weapons. While Zeff used a sword Sanji's weapon of choice was a dagger, two daggers more precisely. She found them easier to manage and quicker to respond with. When she found them, marked by the single small indent on the bottom of each hilt, she pulled them free of their siblings. The knives were very plain, there was no intricate detailing like the knights of the king had. She had to keep it a secret and hide it among other plain weapons or else someone might come in and want to buy it and if she was ever caught she could say she stole it from any of the smith shops in the kingdom if she wanted. Part of her wished for a fancy set of knives but she also loved the ones she had, they were the only ones she had ever known.

She had first been presented with the steel she had been peaking potatoes with a silly little pearing knife. She had been so shocked at seeing the things she had let the knife slip and cut her hand but she had been too excited to care until Zeff yelled at her for getting blood on the potato. He had told her that this dagger was much sharper than a pearing knife so she had better be careful with it. Sanji couldn't wait for the day she could have her own fancy knives and she could name them something amazing. If that day ever came, which it wasn't likely to. As it was she couldn't give the weapons names because that would only make her more attached and there was already constant threat of having them taken away.

Once Sanji had found the daggers in the storeroom she started to undo her dress. All these fancy dresses were a nightmare to get off, that's why she had to have servants dress her but she had trained herself to undo it alone. Once the layers were off she slipped into breeches and a simple tunic. Then she undid the braids in her hair and scooped it all up into a ponytail behind her head. She was all ready to go.

She stuffed her dress into a pouch, grabbed her knives, and ran out the back of Franky's smithery, shouting a quick goodbye. She ran through the maze like gardens to a little place sheltered in trees with pink leaves that had become their little area. The gardens were beautiful but this was Sanji's favorite place because it was away from the eyes of the castle.

Nami was already there with her books and maps all laid out, reading battle strategies today. She could read any kind of map but map reading and battle strategy weren't tasks for little Ladies like herself to do so she had to steal them out of the library. No one would probably miss them, Sanji thought they were probably some if the dullest books in existence.

Sanji didn't bother to say hello as she entered the little grove, she would only be interrupting. Instead, she held her knives out like she was preparing for a duel. They were smooth and steady in her hands as she cut and sliced at the air, she imagined that she was fighting some pompous knight who had insulted her honor. She enjoyed the thought of winning against him. Practicing by herself wasn't as fun as practicing with Zeff but she did what she could, improving her movement and her strength to match a boys.

Two hours passed much too quickly and she knew she had to be in the kitchens soon, so Sanji took off her more comfortable clothes and jumped into the little pond beside the trees, scaring away all the fish that had been lazily swimming through the water. It was better to smell like pond water than to smell like sweat when she went in. She washed the smell off herself, dried down best she could with her tunic and put on the many layers of her dress, although she had to have Nami's help for that. It was even harder to do when she was all wet. Nami didn't have anywhere to go until dinner so she would stay in the grove until then but Sanji was out of there.

The blond girl ran back to Franky's shop to drop off her precious blades, then ran to the kitchens, stopping only to wring more water out of her hair. Before going to the kitchens she had to change into her kitchen uniform, which was basically an apron and servant's clothes. Zeff insisted that he wouldn't teach her unless she dressed like everyone else down there and no one was about to say no to that. It was annoying to have to change into and out of so many clothes but it was necessary to keep up an image, although her servants were always irritated when she came back soaked.

There was always something to do down in the kitchens, always some banquet to prepare, or some Lord's dinner, and never enough hands to do it. Sanji the second best cook there, second only to Zeff himself, and she wouldn't let anyone forget it. She kept everyone in shape, a difficult enough task with the crew they had down there. From them she had earned herself a rather colorful vocabulary, all the more reason to hold her tongue in the presence of highborn Lords and Ladies. But she fit in with these people more so than she did with those highborns. She actually enjoyed screaming at the incompetent idiots who worked alongside of her rather than smiling stupidly through political meetings and social events.

The kitchen staff was like her second family. When she was with them they seemed to forget who she was, Sanji almost forgot too but every time she left she was reminded. Her high blood didn't stop her from teasing by Patty or Carne and it didn't stop her from kicking them both in the head and telling them to get back to work. Sword fighting and cooking were the only things that seemed to make her happy in this stupid city. She wished she had been born a low blood girl, the daughter of some baker or something. That would be much preferred to growing up to pleasure the prince because that was inevitably where her life was headed.

On this day only the dinners had to be prepared so it wasn't as busy as it sometimes could be. Sanji breezed through her work with familiar ease until it was late. She had already eaten with the kitchen servants, so she wouldn't have to suffer through another stuffy dinner pretending she was a good little lady. Once everything was cleared up Sanji began to walk back to her chambers, but at the last moment she turned down the hall to Nami's room instead, she didn't feel like getting ready for bed just yet and she wanted some good old girl talk. Although, in this case girl talk was talking about how they would escape and become outlaws rather than something stupid like boys.

Sanji knocked lightly at the door. There was a pause before the door slid open to reveal the tear stained face of Nami. Shocked, Sanji stepped inside and looked Nami over for any physical damage but saw none. A lot could happen in a few hours, so what had happened here?

"What's wrong?" She asked worriedly.

Nami closed the door and scrubbed at her face with a silky sleeve. "It's happened," she said sullenly, "I'm a woman, they're going to marry me off now."

Sanji felt her blood go cold. They had always known that this would happen but Sanji had always assumed that it would be happening to her and not to Nami first. Sanji put her arms around Nami and pulled the weeping girl close, stroked her hair to comfort her, trying to show greater confidence than she felt.

"Why Arlong?" Nami sobbed. Arlong, the cruel fifteen year old who had no business marrying Nami and Sanji wasn't about to let him have her. Why were the gods so cruel? If she went back with Arlong then she would be close enough to see her real sister again, if she was alive, but the likelihood of that actually happening was slim, with her marrying such an asshole.

"I won't let anything happen to you," Sanji promised softly, and she meant it. She wasn't sure how but she was going to make sure that one way or another Nami got out of this shitty marriage. No matter what it took, she was willing to do it for the girl who was like her little sister.

XxxX

A/N: I've been really into A Game of Thrones so that's probably why this happened. Also with always writing about dudes I don't get a lot of time to write strong female characters so this makes the feminist inside me happy to write something empowering. And it's kind of my baby.

Usually I don't like gender bent stories but I have a fondness for Fem!Sanji for whatever reason (probably her hair). I think she would be the kind of girl who is so bad with guys she would wish she liked girls but isn't attracted to them, so she's kind of screwed.

And to make Sanji fit into environment I had to mutilate his personality a little but I tried not to do too much damage. I morn for Sanji's eyebrows but I wanted to do something to strip her of her identity.

Without the power of super shoes I don't think Sanji's technique would be quite so effective in medieval times against armored knights and such. Thus, I gave him... her a daggers.

Thank you to my wonderful beta, Mary_Nine :)

One last thing, I started this story because I was talking to the wonderful maychewn about medieval Sanji and Zoro. So, thanks for inspiring me, friend.

Thanks.


	2. Run For Your Life

She had a fire inside  
And that terrified you  
You swore that you'd never lose your control  
Baby, let yourself go 'cause part of you hides  
And I know the hunger inside of you's strong  
You can only hold back the river so long

-"Run For Your Life" The Fray

XxxX

Arlong was at the castle within two weeks of learning that Nami was suitable for wedding. A message had been sent via the linking door. Every major city had a linking door, it was said that they were a remnant of some great civilization before them but there was no real information on what they were or who built them. The doors were mostly used to send urgent messages between cities but they could be used to send people through, and for that reason they were always under guard. In order to use the door, blood had to be spilled. If it was only a message the killing a bird of smearing a fair amount of blood from a cut would do, but to sent a person it took something larger, like a sheep.

The wedding wouldn't take place in the royal kingdom, it would be back in the city from where he had come. Arlong's family was just there to eke out as much money and as many favors toward their union as they could, not that they would probably get much seeing as Nami wasn't an especially important ward. They would be taking her back with them when it was time to go so Nami was savoring her time as much as she could. Her future husband was tall with an unattractive, fishy face, literally, not figuratively as he was a fishman, part human and part swordfish. He was a greedy and devious person which didn't help his overall appeal.

On the day he arrived his family rode in early in the morning and came for audience in the throne room. At the start of the gathering Nami and Arlong had met in front of the throne. Nami looked beautiful in her long blue dress and flowing hair, she didn't give any indication of the malice she harbored toward this boy. Arlong looked sullenly at her, his eyes moving over her critically. He looked like he had something to say but held his tongue, probably because all eyes were on the two of them. When they met they laced their hands together and sat in the center of the room, waiting for the talk to begin.

The large room was filled with officials ready to start discussing money and preparations for the wedding. The King and Queen were away, as usual, visiting with some other Lord in some other land, leaving their son to rule in the King's stead. Sir Crocodile had some official man speaking to them in addressing who was to attend and what was to take place but the lord looked down on them, turning over every word in his head as he tapped his hooked hand against the arm of his father's throne. It seemed to Sanji that she felt his gaze more harshly than any of the others, because she didn't see anyone nearly as uncomfortable as she felt when his eyes passed over her. It was probably just her imagination.

Nami had kept a pretty smile on her face all the while they were in attendance at this meeting, Sanji could only manage a neutral look, she could hardly take this. When they were dismissed Nami waited a moment before leaving her betrothed and walking out the doors with Sanji at her side. As soon as they were out of sight Nami glared at the door from where they had come. If she were anyone else Sanji suspected that she would have spat on the ground in address to the good Lord Arlong.

"I hate him," she hissed.

"Me too," Sanji agreed, but what could they do? No one was going to let Nami back out of this marriage just because she didn't want to marry him, that's not how things worked. But there had to be some way out of this.

"My Ladies," came a voice echoing through the hall behind them. They turned to see Arlong looking at them like some sort of predator. Sanji's own predatory instincts were telling her to maul this enemy but she resisted. Sanji tried not to look too suspicious of him as he walked forward to meet them.

"Yes, my Lord," Nami smiled sweetly, she had far more restrain than Sanji did.

"You rushed out so quickly, we haven't gotten a chance to know each other yet," the boy grinned, showing his rows of sharp teeth.

"Would you like to get to know me, my Lord?" Nami asked with a shy smile.

"I would, now come along," he motioned toward himself hastily.

Sanji couldn't restrain her glare then and she put a hand on Nami's shoulder to hold her back. "Nami had duties to preform," she lied. Right now Nami's only real duty was to get to become a good wife.

Arlong glared at her darkly. "Well, I'm going to be her husband and I'm more important than any womanly task could be," he spat at her.

Sanji was about to tell him just how unimportant he was when Nami tugged at her sleeve. "It's alright, Sanji," she said gently, walking toward Arlong and taking his arm as he offered it to her. Arlong shot Sanji as satisfied smirk before turning with Nami to walking in the opposite direction. Sanji made a face at him as soon as his back was turned before stomping off toward her room to change for the kitchens.

When the two girls next met it was when Robin had them sewing. Neither of them were bad at it but Nami was better than Sanji. She related all the horrors of getting to know her husband to be.

"He's a nightmare," she groaned, "He's not even attempting to lure me into a false sense of security. He told me that if I ever disobeyed him the would slap me so hard it would make my brain rattle," she scoffed.

Sanji stabbed her needle through the cloth in her hands angrily. "I'll wring his stupid gilled neck." She expected he wouldn't be getting better anytime soon and she was right on that account. The more time the boy spent around the castle the less Sanji liked him. She especially didn't like the way he hung around Nami while she walked through the grounds. He seemed to feel that it was his duty at watch everything she did and comment on her every flaw. It didn't give her any time to read her books or maps and made her patience wear thin. Even Nami's trained mask was starting to flicker out of existence as Arlong grew incredibly horrible.

After four days of being in the presence of the fishman, Sanji was ready to throw him over the castle walls and let him break his neck. The boy was an arrogant little prick and she would like nothing more than to kick him in his stupid fishy face. She found herself more and more imagining what it would be like to break his long nose of his under her foot, what a satisfying sound it would make.

On that cloudy afternoon Sanji was storming through a hallway after Arlong had told her that she was lucky that she had land to her name or else no one would want her because she had the body of a twelve year old boy. He said she would be lucky is some stable boy even found her worth fucking then he had slammed a for in her face. Sanji wished she was a twelve year old boy, then she would grow up with lands to her name and could move to them when she was old enough, not give them away to whomever she was married off to. She had been so caught up in her anger that she had nearly run into the Prince. She quickly halted upon seeing him.

"My Lord," she said quickly, with a little curtsy and a shy smile. She forced her smile to be shy and not nervous but it was a rather hard task, the man made her hair stand on end.

"My Lady of Black," said Sir Crocodile, his tone unreadable, "And how are you this day?"

"Very well, my Lord," Sanji said hesitantly, anxious about where this could be going.

"Looking forward to the Lady Nami's wedding?" he asked casually, though his eyes were gleaming with something sharp and dangerous.

Sanji nodded,"It will be a beautiful event and I hope that they will be happy together." That was true enough, it was good to mix lies with the truth. Really, Sanji was just glad she would be attending the wedding at all, they could have left her in the castle while Nami was being sold away.

The Prince nodded in return, taking a step toward her as she resisted the urge to step back. "It will be indeed, it reminds me of my first wedding, it was very beautiful that year the spring had come early and the weather was wonderful," he sighed, "And makes me long for another." His eyes looked her up and down. "How old are you now?"

"Sixteen, my Lord." Sanji fought to keep the edge of emotion out of her voice. All that swelling anger, and fear she was suddenly feeling but it was mostly just cold. The cold had settled in her stomach and was reaching it's tendrils to the rest of her body to make her numb.

He frowned at her. "Your time should be upon you soon and then we shall be wed." He reached out and placed his good hand on her right breast.

The action shocked her more than she would have expected. Her reaction was of both indigence and disgust. She reflexively jerked back but he only grabbed her more tightly, making her choke back a cry of pain as he forced her look up at him. "You had better get used to this, girl, next time you flinch I'll make you wish you hadn't." His hand was still on her chest and she was trying with all her might to keep her cool.

"I... apologize, my Lord," she forced herself to say, biting the inside of her mouth hard enough to fill her mouth with a coppery taste. The fire that usually filled her with venomous words and quick movements had suddenly gone out. She had frozen.

He looked appeased at that and shoved her roughly away. "Very good, I wish you a good day, my Lady," he said leaving Sanji to feel cold and very very angry. She decided not to tell anyone about the run in, it was too embarrassing to talk about and just thinking about it made her hate herself a little bit. She wished she would have kicked him in the testicles, or at least broken one of his fingers. One of the servants had tried to grope her once and she had broken his wrist in retaliation. No one bothered her after that.

On the sixth day of Arlong's stay Sanji was off training in the tree grove when she heard the sound of horses headed her way. She didn't noticed until they were coming into view so she had no time to hide from them. She had been too caught up in her practicing, distracting herself from all the bull shit she had to deal with. The encounter she'd had with the Prince still had her shaken up even two days later and she was trying to bury the memory by means of physical exertion. Luckily, there were only two riders on the horses; Nami and Arlong. Unluckily, Arlong was in the general vicinity of her and could see her with knives in her hands. The horses were pulled to a stop when the riders saw the blond in sweaty boy's clothes holding the two practice daggers. Nami was used to this but Arlong laughed at the sight. "What do you think you're doing, girl?" he said.

"Just trimming the bushes," Sanji informed him with a scowl, she was in no mood to deal with him.

The boy scowled back at her. "Really? Because it looks to me like you're pretending to some kind of squire. Don't you know that girls like you aren't meant for steel wielding, leave it to us boys. And besides, the only respectable weapon is a sword." He jerked a finger toward himself to indicate that he was the best and patted the sheathed sword at his side. Sanji didn't know why he even bothered to carry a sword around, she had never seen him use it. She suspected it was only there so that he could look cool and so he could threaten people.

Sanji felt her blood boil, "I bet I'd do better in a fight than you," she blurted out. That wasn't good. She shouldn't insult his pride like that. If she beat him then he would tell everyone her secret out of spite and if she lost he would laugh and tell her secret anyway. There was no real way to win.

Arlong's face twisted into a smirk as he dismounted his horse. "You'd best hold your tongue, girl, or I'll cut it out for you."

"I dare you to try," Sanji challenged, raising her knives as Arlong drew his sword. She was sick of this little punk and his shitty attitude. Behind him Nami had jumped down from her horse and was nervously glancing between them, trying to think of a way to stop them but not finding one. Maybe she wasn't trying hard enough, she really wanted to watch Sanji kick his ass.

Arlong was within striking distance but Sanji gave him the first strike He hit hard but it was nothing she couldn't handle, she was used to fighting Zeff after all. Their steel danced as they clashed to the clang of metal. He was nowhere as good as Zeff and nowhere near as good as her. She toyed with him a bit before kicking him in the chest and knocking him onto his back, one foot on his sternum and a blade at his throat.

"Do you surrender?" she asked seriously, a smirk on her face. Maybe he wasn't very good but she had won after all, there was sweetness in that.

Arlong glared at her, "No, you cheated," he claimed although she had done no such thing, she was simply better than he was. She hadn't even been using her usual style, she used the style of any other knife fighter. The only time she had used a leg was to kick him onto his ass so that she wouldn't have to do it with the point of a knife. It was a pity strike.

In response to his accusation she pressed the metal closer until it touched the soft skin of his throat. "I said, do you surrender?" Maybe she wanted to scare him a little bit, he defiantly deserved it. He glared at her with fire in his eyes and Sanji thought he might say no so she pressed the dagger harder against his flesh, not quite hard enough to pierce the skin but hard enough to hurt.

"Fine," he spat, "I surrender." Although he looked none too happy about it. He had just been beaten by a girl, his pride had been gutted by an all too happy Sanji.

Sanji grinned and let him up. She offered her hand but he had knocked it aside and stood up for his own. Sanji rolled her eyes and turned her head toward Nami who was grinning wildly at her, she apparently liked to see her betrothed's pride wounded, or rather, shattered into little pieces. At least if Sanji's secret was to be spoiled someone would have to know how good she was. Speaking of which, they should be getting back to the castle soon, it was getting late.

"Oi, Arlong," Sanji said gruffly, "You had better not tell anyone about this."

Arlong was glaring at her with the utmost contempt. "And why not? I'm sure the Prince would love to hear this. Maybe he would cut you open for threatening a Lord like me. Women have no right to wield steel." He spat at her feet.

She wrinkled her nose in disgust and stepped closer. "Let me make this more clear; if you tell anyone about this I'll cut your stupid head off your useless little body, got it, fishboy," She threatened, placing her knife on his shoulder very close to his neck.

"You wouldn't dare to harm me," he said, brave words although his voice wavered uncertainly.

"Wouldn't I?" She pressed the edge against his skin as she drew it back making a small red line on his skin. The knife cut so cleanly that for a moment Sanji was worried she hadn't hit anything but soon enough blood rose to the outer skin. He yelped in astonishment as he clamped a hand against his neck. It was only a cut, he shouldn't be such a stupid baby about it. Once Sanji had nearly cut off one of her fingers chopping up ginger then Zeff had thrown a hole drawer full of assorted knives at her to dodge to teach her to be more careful. What great fun that had been, she had barely even screamed.

Sanji rolled her eyes at the boy and turned to help Nami back up onto her horse with a bit of effort. They were both grinning like idiots and Sanji decided that as soon as they were back at the castle she would go to a safe place with Nami and they could laugh openly about it, but not here and not now. She would send off her horse first and they could meet up in one of their rooms.

The whisk of a sword through air made Sanji start. She heard the sound, spun on the spot and turned out of the way of the arch of the sword. The idiot was attacking her with her back turned, what a coward, she even had her knives sheathed. It was stupid of her to turn her back on him and she cursed herself for that, but she thought that even he would have the dignity not to attack her from behind like a coward. She felt anger stir in her, a red tide of fury. As she dodged another swing she kicked him in the chest as she had before but harder, the kick was powered by a good deal of repressed anger, it was solid, very hard. Too hard actually, she felt at least one of his ribs give as she made contact. The sword was flung from his hands as he fell once again into the dirt, landing with a clang and a thump.

Nami's horse reared wildly but the girl clung to the reins and Sanji managed to calm the screaming animal quickly before Nami could be thrown from it's back. Stupid unreliable horse. As the horse settled that was when she heard his horrible breathing. Gasping and gurgling. The gasping was to be expected but the gurgling was not a good sign.

She looked toward the fallen boy, his chest rose and fell raggedly with the rattling sound of his breaths. He coughed and gasped for breath like he was choking on something. Sanji felt her blood turn to stone, a rib must have pierced his lung, he could die if he didn't get help soon. Or at least, that's what Sanji assumed would happen, she wasn't any good with healing. She was much better at causing injuries than tending to them, but that was why she was in this situation to begin with. Then again, maybe this was for the best, a little voice in the back of her head told her, maybe you should let him die then he wouldn't marry Nami. Suddenly, she wanted him dead, she would get in trouble anyway so what would it matter he died? She wouldn't be able to practice anymore and they would want to know who gave her the weapons and trained her. They wouldn't let her do anything she loved anymore, so what was the point?

What kind of trouble should she be in if he died? Surly, they wouldn't have her put to death what with her social status but they would be very cross. Or maybe they would kill her if they found out that she had been playing as a boy when she had killed him, he was a high Lord after all, of higher birth than she was as some stupid ward and his people were known for being relentless in their quest for revenge. She was thinking like he was already dead but she could still hear him gasping for breath. Right, it was time to act.

Was she really willing to let this stupid boy die? She had never killed anyone before. She had seen enough people die to see how it happened. She had seen various executions, people dying when her home had been taken, men dying in tournaments, and she had even seen a woman be dragged away by a wolf while she was traveling. Death was nothing new to her, but could she be the one to take a life?

Sanji felt a strange calm settle over her and she turned suddenly to Nami who was gaping at the fallen boy, "Sanji-" she managed before she was cut off.

"Go get a healer," Sanji told the girl, urging her horse on. Nami didn't look like she wanted to go but she turned the reins and rode off for help

The blond watched Nami disappear for a second before turning back to the gasping fishman. She felt slightly sorry that he was suffering, he shouldn't have to. There was no way that anyone of any help would come in time, she expected. She was a little startled to find that she didn't care if he lived or died, it was all the same to her. Blood was dribbling from his mouth now and his eyes were wide with fear, pleading for help. It was a pitiful sight.

She picked up the sword that he had tried to cut her down with, it was a fancy sword, well made, but she liked her knives better somehow, even though they were plain. This weapon wasn't weighted properly to her anyhow. She pressed the cold metal to the boy's chest, to the right of his sternum and between two ribs. She threw her weight onto the sword and it slid through his flesh into his heart. There was a gurgle, a final gasp and it was done, blood leaked out onto the ground in a pool in the dirt. Sanji dug the point of the bloodied sword into the ground and sighed, unsure of how she felt but she pushed that aside for the moment. Now they would have her head for this, she was sure. She felt a flutter of fear and excitement, she had to get out of there. A few people knew she went to the gardens and they knew of her attitude toward the now dead Lord. It would not be difficult to figure it out.

Hurriedly, she gathered her things with shaking hands and ran through the trees back to the castle, avoiding everyone she could before she made it to her room. She grabbed a purse full of coins, slipping them into a bag along with an extra pair of boy's clothes and a strip of cloth to bind down her chest. Dresses and girly parts wouldn't do her any good now unless she wanted to be made a whore. She snuck down to the kitchen next and grabbed Zeff's attention. She wasn't quite sure why she did it but she ended up there all the same. In her boy clothes, knives at her waist and bag at her side. She hid in the shadows until Zeff caught sight of her. His eyes narrowed as he approached her. He already seemed to know what was going on. Or maybe not what exactly but he knew something was wrong.

"You should just have left," he hissed. Whatever she had done, it was stupid to come here when she should have been getting the fuck out.

"I killed Arlong," she said quietly. She didn't know why she was here but suddenly she felt like a little girl who had done something wrong. She was a little girl who had done something wrong.

"Then you have to get out of here," Zeff insisted, apparently not fazed by her sudden admission of homicide.

"But-" she started.

"No, just go."

She looked up at him, for a moment she felt very guilty for what she had done. "I want Nami to come with me," she said quietly.

"Where you're going is not place for a little girl like her but I know you won't listen to me. Keep your eyes down and cut off that hair of yours if you know what's good for you," he told her. He went to one of the table and brought her a loaf of bread and some cheese. They wouldn't last long but it was better than nothing so she took it gratuitously.

Leaving was harder than it had been to kill Arlong and that was very strange. She kind if felt like crying now but she shoved the thought aside. "Thank you," she told him, she meant it for everything.

"Don't get yourself killed, little eggplant," he said gruffly. And with one last long look she dashed out if the kitchens.

It would seem that most of the attention had gone to the dead boy in the trees so she made her way to the gate with relative ease. Part of her had been hoping against hope to see Nami before she left but the girl was probably with everyone else, staring at the thing she had done. Sanji felt very conflicted. If she took Nami with her out of the city she would be exposing her to all sorts of risk but they would go on the adventure they had always dreamed of. Also, if she didn't take Nami then she wouldn't be there if anything were to happen to her. Before Sanji could make up her mind about going back she was nearly tackled to the ground. Before she could retaliate Nami was already talking.

"Were you just going to leave without me?" she demanded indignantly. She had Sanji spare boy clothes on and a bag at her side.

Sanji gaped at her. "How did you find me so fast?"

"It wasn't that hard," Nami rolled her eyes, "We should probably go before someone finds us."

"You'll be safer here."

"They might try to remarry me."

"But you could die."

"You won't let that happen."

Sanji looked at her for a long time, taking in her determined expression. "Fine," she finally said and lead the way out. She knew a spot where they could get through the gate. It was near the back corner of the castle where the bricks in the gate had been warn down enough that she could climb them after a few feet of jumping up. It was murder on her arms but she got herself up onto the gate anyway Nami at her heels. Cautiously, she looked around for a guard, there was one in one of the sentinels nearly twenty feet from her but he appeared to be looking the other way. She climbed over the crenellations and onto the walkway, hurrying toward the place she meant to get down. She had done this only a few times but she knew how well enough. When she found her spot and perched on the wall, crawling over the edge. The bricks were better kept on the outside to keep people from climbing into the castle but there was a tree not so far from where she was hanging. It didn't reach the top of the tower so there wasn't any really need to cut it down and Sanji was suddenly very glad for that as she let herself drop onto the branch. She grabbed it with both arms, it jammed her downward but she did not cry out, merely shimmied down the branch before the guard could see what had just disturbed the before peaceful tree. Nami mimicked her motions immediately after her. The younger girl had made it to the tree's main body when they heard the guard curse and call for backup. She slid quickly down the tree onto the ground with a force that made her ankles hurt but as soon as her feet met the dirt she started running just behind Sanji.

They ran and ran to the edge of a river, they were in the city now. Well, outside of it but still within the castle's protection. The river was not wide, nor was it deep here. They followed it down a ways before kneeling down at the side and drawing her dagger. Looking down at the reflective water Sanji grabbed a chunk of hair and started to saw it off, dropping it into the river to be swept away. She ignored Nami's look of horror as she cut it very short in the back like a boy's hair and kept the front long enough that she could cover her face if she wanted. She only wanted to cover half her face as it was, she used to do that when she was little to cover her eyebrows before they started to shave them off. They would grow back now if she let them. She wasn't quite sure how to feel about that but it would be a good way to alter her appearance.

She glanced down at herself in the water. The hair made her look different, she almost looked like a boy. A girly boy but a boy all the same. Hopefully, that would work in her advantage if she was going to get by in these streets, it was safer to be a boy than a girl. No one was likely to recognize her, she hadn't been out of the castle enough for that but guards would ride through the city in search of her so she would have to find a safe way out if the city at some point. Being so close to the castle made her nervous.

She turned to Nami, handing her the dagger although she didn't look like she wanted to take it.

"Do I have to?" she asked.

"You don't have to cut it this short but take off a lot," Sanji advised.

Nami raised the knife and started to saw off her waist length hair up at her chin. Sanji may have been perfectly comfortable pretending to be a boy but Nami liked being a girl much better. Maybe that wasn't quite as safe but as long as she had Sanji with her she didn't think she'd have anything to worry about. Sanji would always protect her.

Standing, Nami handed back the knife. They followed the river into where it connected with the town. No one noticed as they walked among them, they were both glad for that. It was late and they were uncomfortably aware that the guards would be on their way out to search for them at any time now, so Nami led them through a labyrinth of alleys until they were sufficiently alone. They took a seat on the ground there and just sat for a while, wondering what they should do now. Sanji supposed that they should probably search the city for food options when they inevitably ate all the food but she just wanted to sit for a while so that was what they did.

When they were done with their mindless sitting they wandered through the streets, careful to avoid guards. The city was busier than Sanji would have thought it. People were bustling about, buying or selling goods in the market place. They snuck along, invisible in the crowd.

When it began to grow dark they found a nice abandoned niche to sit in and eat the food. Sanji stayed awake most of the night, not trusting anything enough to sleep. She let Nami sleep instead. Some people passed her but didn't pay her any mind, she just looked like a street boy now, although a rather clean one at that. She was covering her knives with her body along with her bag so that no one would steal them from her while she rested but it didn't little to make her feel anymore secure. She would have to get used to this kind of uncertainty, physical and not political like she was used to.

They stuck to the shadows for the next week. Listening closely they heard from talk and rumor that Arlong's people meant of have her answer for her crimes when they found her and they were saying that she had kidnapped Nami. Somehow Sanji didn't regret killing that boy, she knew he deserved it and now he wouldn't get to make Nami miserable. She just hoped that Robin wasn't worrying too much, she wondered what she was up to but rumors obviously wouldn't cover what her surrogate mother was doing, everyone was too busy talking about her and exaggerating what she had done. She heard one man say that she had torn Arlong's head off with a kitchen knife and started to scale and flay him like a fish for dinner. She found that rather amusing.

Nami was much more feminine than Sanji was, she didn't fit in quite so well, she would draw too many eyes their way with her slightly unusual orange hair. Hair like hers was slightly uncommon in this area but Sanji had blond hair like most of the other towns people. Sanji could be a shadow, a pretty little wall flower. Although, by the day she grew more filthy, they both did and they both desperately wanted a wash but knew that it would help them in blending in with all the other street kids with their filthy matted hair and scrawny forms.

Sanji hated the other street kids, they tried to steal her things and she would have to threaten to slit their throats until they backed off. She also hated some of the looks she got, funny looks like people wanted to see what it was under her clothes. She tried the best she could to avoid them, the last thing she wanted was to be raped in some back alley. It was even harder with Nami. Nami with her looks attracted attention so Sanji had to kick a lot of asses in order to keep her safe. The other street kids thought that Nami was her sister and Sanji did not protest to that, they may not have been sisters in blood but in spirit they were. And she expected that was what the kids meant too because they didn't look anything alike.

Whichever way you looked at it Sanji was gradually learning the way of the beggar and she would survive if only to spite those searching for her and to keep Nami safe.

XxxX

A/N: A daring escape, indeed. At first I had Sanji escaping alone but then I was like "holy shit, Sanji would never abandon Nami." I think Sanji and Nami being sisters is sweet. This is not quite what having a sister is really like though for the most part... sigh, if only, if only.

It's kind of unlikely that Sanji would have smashed his ribs in that way but even if she had he probably would have been able to recover with proper assistance. Whatever, the plot compelled me :/

Oh, and I don't know what is going on with the cover photo it's sort of meh but I'm too lazy to redo it and for some reason I felt like using masking tape. Whatever, I don't know.

Thanks.


	3. Bumpy Ride

It's gonna be a bumpy ride  
But it sure beats standing still.  
I know we can work it out,  
And I've no doubt that we will.  
When it hurts more than it shows,  
It's not the easiest of roads.  
No it's never black and white,  
And you can keep your happy life.

-"Bumpy Ride" The Hoosiers

XxxX

By the end of a moon cycle Sanji had spent all of her coin, while Nami somehow gained a suspiciously acquired amount of money, and her eyebrows were mostly grown back. The other kids teased her about them but it wasn't like it was an entirely uncommon trait in this city, it just marked her as someone from the east. She realized that more and more people were calling her 'boy' when she was caught trying to steal from them and she looked the part too. Her clothes and hair were filthy and flea infested, and her dirty face looked far from lovely corn silk, as it once had been. She liked being a boy better, people didn't bother her so much as they would a girl and they didn't expect her to act like a lady.

Nami still had some of her original money as well as the large sum she had gathered from pick pocketing. Her devious skills were being put to good use. Nami too was filthy but still recognizable, which worried Sanji greatly although she doubted that anyone would recognize her. Nami's family hadn't been an especially big deal and she hadn't been an exceptional ward so it was unlikely that most people even knew her name. Sanji's name would be recognized as the girl engaged to the Prince and the inheritor of East Blue.

They saw other girls in the streets sometimes, many were prostitutes but Sanji had rescued more than one girl from being chased down by some creep. They were always grateful and she was always happy to help. It was very awkward if they tried to make an advance on her, although most didn't seeing as most had nearly been deflowered in a dirty alley but there were some that did and Sanji just awkwardly laughed it off and ran off before they could touch her. She didn't want anyone to know she was a girl after all.

They had been trying to think of a way out of the city for the past week or so. Being so close of the castle was nerve wracking. Currently, Nami was making her now usual route pick pocketing people while Sanji kept an eye on her from afar. As Sanji walked through the road a man who ran the brothel down the road called out to her. The man, Bon Clay, if he could be called a man, ran a very... unique brothel with a very wide selection of whores for sale. The man himself dressed as a woman, something Sanji found quite distasteful. She didn't understand why any man would want to be a woman, being a man would be much better in her opinion. There was just so much more you were allowed to do.

"My darling little street boy~" Bon Clay called out to the beggar girl. "I believe Iva wants to talk with you!" He jerked a finger toward the man at his side who stood smiling at her.

Iva, or rather Ivankov, was a prostitute who had taken a liking to her. Sometimes Iva would give her a coin or two if he saw her sleeping on the streets with Nami or chasing birds for food. Sometimes it seemed like catching birds was easier than catching fish with only that tiny river, a fishing string, and a rusty hook, but food was hard to come by and she used every chance she had to find something to eat. Living off the streets was hard work and she always had an empty stomach. Despite the coin that Nami found, many people were unwilling to sell goods to them because they 'brought trouble'.

Sanji couldn't say that she disliked Iva but sometimes the man made her uncomfortable, especially when it came to his magic. He could changer his body to that of a woman, a trick she suspected that he learned from Bon who seemed to be able to become anyone he pleased. Although, she had been told that they had both eaten a devils fruit to gain their power. It seemed like simple magic to her but she didn't know anything about sorcery, it wasn't openly accepted in this city. Not like in some of the Druid cities. She had never met a devils fruit user either, so she had no way to know if that was the source of their power.

Sanji walked toward the purple haired man to see what he wanted, she was wary about leaving Nami unattended but she could handle herself for a few moments. "What?" she asked suspiciously as Bon went back into the brothel to attend to his costumers.

"I though you might want to know that a wagon will be leaving early tomorrow for the next city over," he said with a knowing smile.

"What makes you think I would want to go?" Sanji asked, feigning innocence.

"The guards still search for you and your little friend," he said in a low voice.

Sanji's heart nearly stopped, "What-?"

"Spare me the denial, I've been in the castle and I know your face as well as little Lady Nami's. I might not be the only one, so I suggest you hurry out if the city." Iva grinned.

Sanji gaped, she didn't have a choice now and she wouldn't have turned the offer down even if she had. "W-when do they leave?"

"At first light tomorrow," Iva said tossing her a coin, which she fumbled to catch.

Nami found her not long after that, a fresh bag of copper coins in her hands. "What's wrong?" she frowned, taking in Sanji's sullen expression.

"Iva knows who were are," she said lightly.

Nami's expression fell equally serious. "Will he do anything about it?"

"He's going to give us a way out of the city. A wagon is leaving tomorrow."

"Where to?"

Sanji shrugged, "Away from here."

"Then why do you look so unhappy?"

"It makes me think other people know."

Nami rolled her eyes, "You're being paranoid, this is a good thing."

"I know." It would be sort of sad to leave the city, but it would be like leaving their prison behind.

Sanji spent the rest of the day worriedly glancing over her shoulder and looking around in paranoia. It would be good to leave the city, but she wished that they wouldn't be traveling with prostitutes, especially prostitutes who wished they were women. That made her burn in anger, they didn't seem to understand what they were passing up. Although, in a way she was sort of the same as them. They dressed as women and she dressed like a boy.

After a sleepless night of running from a middle aged man who wanted to touch her, Sanji busted his nose, collected Nami from a hiding place, and turned up at the brothel where a horsed wagon waited to be filled. They were waved on board by Iva. The wagon was small and uncomfortable but it did carry ten passengers.

Traveling with the whores was somehow not as bad as Sanji had thought it would be. Not that it wasn't bad, because it was. Nami got along with them well enough, they brushed her hair and told her how pretty she was and Sanji didn't mind that. Although, when it came to Sanji and they still though she was a boy they had wanted to put her into girls clothes. All the dresses they had were bright and garish, nothing like the dresses she had warn in the castle. They jumped her on the second day of travel while Iva and one other the other man were off looking for food, Nami had been asleep at the time.

Sanji had been sitting off by herself, scuffing her foot at the ground when someone had grabbed her from behind. They were on her within seconds pulling off her clothes as she struggled, when she saw what they were doing she didn't scream for fear that someone they didn't want may hear and besides they had covered her mouth well enough to stop any noise. She struggled as best she could. She was strong for a girl her size but against so many so close it was an impossible struggle. They giggled to themselves as they were preparing her new garb.

When they finally managed to get her shirt up over her head, they saw that she was a girl. That stopped them in their tracks, maybe they understood what it was to be trapped in a body that didn't quite fit you. The situation was a bit different, to be fair, Sanji liked her body just fine as it was, she would rather the entire world change its mind about how things should work. She wanted to be able to go from wearing a dress to a tunic and breeches without an eye being batted. She wanted to be treated the same as a boy even though she was different. But until then she would play at being a boy.

Once they all knew she was a girl they didn't bother her so much. They did, however, make her wash herself in the river and brush her hair until it was like corn silk. That she could deal with, she had had people fussing over her appearance for nearly all of her life after all, annoying as it was.

The journey only lasted four days with the good weather they had. Four days of uncomfortable travel before the walls of the city were in sight. It was a smaller city than the royal city had been but a large city none the less. This one was a port, however and it housed many ships.

As the wagon pulled through the into the houses beyond the gates they were victim to many looks of disgust, they weren't exactly the most wholesome group rolling through. These people were used to seeing whores but cross dressing whores not so much. They probably thought her one of them, a pretty boy probably. They would look down on a pretty boy almost as much as they would a girl, and they would be more violent. She cursed and tried to hide her face. Nami didn't seem to care so much but that was probably because she was obviously a girl, she still hid her face through, just incase some mistook her for a prostitute late. That would not be fun.

The wagon came to a stop in front of a brothel and it unloaded the people. Sanji hopped down from the cart, dismayed to see that there was a crowd staring at them. Not a good first impression to make on the people but it was possible that they were too distracted by the more flamboyant members of the group to see her as she helped Nami down from the cart. Before they could slip away Iva grabbed the blond by the arm.

"Remember, candy boy, if you ever need a friend we'll have a place for you here," he said with a wink.

Sanji looked at him blankly. "I'll keep that in mind." She had no intention of becoming a prostitute, thank you very much and she would rather die than let Nami become one, but she did appreciate the effort that the man had out forth to bring them here so she tried not to make too much of a face and thanked him for his kindness.

When they were away from the whore house they began to explore the port. There was a greater variety of people here in all shapes and sizes. They bustled about shouting in different languages. Sanji knew three languages herself; standard, her home language, and the language of the royal kingdom. Nami only knew the standard and royal.

Sanji decided that she liked this place with it's blue sky and shimmering waters. There were more beggars here and far more slaves, she would have to watch out for that. She had heard stories of people being kidnapped in this city and sold for slaves. She didn't want either of them to end up some lord or lady's slave.

In this city there was a whole new labyrinth of alleyways to get to know so they wandered the streets to get used to them. Before setting off she stuffed the coin Iva had given her into Nami's purse, it would be much safer there than with her.

As they walked through the city Sanji realized that this city smelled like dead fish were the royal kingdom had smelled like pigs. She wasn't sure which was worse. The fish smell brought her back to her childhood on the Isles of East Blue but she wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.

She remembered cold sea spray misting across her face as she poked at a particularly large dead fish with a stick. It was too cold for the flies or the thing would have been completely covered. The wind was whipping across the beach, hitting her skin like a thousand tiny needles. She didn't cry through, she was used to it and she hadn't been out to see the water in so long.

One of her maids saw her with the dead thing and dragged her away, scolding her for getting away from them. They were sneaking away for a boat so that the royal army could not take Sanji as hostage. They were just waiting for the tiny dingy to make it's way to them, there was no time to lose.

Sanji had need dragged from bed too early that morning and dressed in the dark. Her head spun as they had dragged her out a secret escape toward the beach. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had a decent meal. She wasn't quite hungry enough to consider eating the dead fish yet, though and she was upset that she had been taken away from it. There wasn't anything to do in this place anyway, aside from watch the smoke rise from the castle and the tiny boat float over the water toward them.

When the little thing was nearly at the beach a fleck of orange flashed across the sky. Then came another and another, until one finally hit the little boat and set it ablaze. They had fired flaming arrows to burn away their escape. The soldiers were up on the rocky cliff, bows aimed on them as foot soldiers moved toward them on the beach.

The small group that had been with Sanji was forced to surrender, only one had been foolish enough to try resisting and he was a young, arrogant knight who ended up with a sword in his belly. His blood began to seep into the sand as Sanji was taken into the care of the royal army.

Sanji blinked at the port, at the glistening waters. Maybe it wasn't such a good thing after all, she tried not to think of such things more than she had to.

XxxX

By the end of eight days Sanji decided she hated the beggar boys here in this city even worse than back in the other city. One of them had seen them get off the wagon with the whores and now they were all constantly bringing it up to tease her and try to drag Nami off. They would always try to steal their things but she would scare them off every time. Some of them were bigger than she was, but she had been trained in the art of defending herself and they had not. They were brute force and she was skill, she always got the better of them and they learned that quickly enough, although she had to break a few of their fingers in the process and Nami had probably given a few of them brain damage from smacking them in the heads.

They were all little beasts if you asked Sanji. There were, as she initially thought, more dangers in this place. They had nearly been cornered by people a few times. People who wanted organs, people who wanted to sell them, people who wanted their bodies, people who wanted Sanji's weapons. They had so far run them all off by threatening them with steel or some other method of staving them off. Some of them Sanji had cut, and others she had not, but she didn't think she had killed any of them, only wounded. She probably hadn't killed them, not that she would have cared if she had. If they became aquatinted with her blade then they probably deserved it.

While she was running through alleys and trying to lay low, she worried about what was going on in the royal kingdom. There was no word of specifics but it was whispered about that the angry fish people were out for blood. There was chum in the water, or so the rumors said. The fishmen wouldn't have enough support to do any damage to anyone but rebellious cities were never good for the lands, especially when they wanted justice the crown could not give.

Sanji tried to stay optimistic about it, she really did but she could feel the dark pulling at her. There was one good thing that had happened to them since coming to this city. And it was that despite all the little pests in the city Sanji had found another kid she didn't actually mind too much.

Nami was off pick pocketing and Sanji had just stolen a stale loaf of bread from the bread maker, she hadn't eaten anything in nearly two days, she had been giving all her food to Nami. It was much harder to steal form people here because they were so used to the crime that they expected it. When Sanji had run off she evaded the angry baker, losing him around a corner but she tripped over something and set the bread flying. Upon landing the bread was scooped up and carried off by a scrawny, flee bitten, street dog that ran off before she could chase it down.

She clenched her fists in frustration and turned to see what she had tripped over. As it turned out she had tripped over a boy with tan skin and dark hair. He was wearing a straw hat and a dirty red vest, there was a scar under his left eye, probably another street kid like her, he looked about eleven or twelve but it was possible that he was Nami's age and he was asleep. He had been tripped over and it hadn't even stirred him at all.

She glared at him and decided that she would wake him up out of spite, her hunger was making her mean. She raised herself to her knees and jabbed him in the side with the hilt of her dagger. He was lucky that she didn't stab him awake or just let him sleep indefinitely with the blade of her knife.

His eyes sleepily opened and focused on her blearily on her face. "Wha?" he asked in confusion.

"You just lost me my dinner," she said bitterly. She should just get up and go hunting for birds to eat or fish to catch but she felt dizzy when she walked so she thought she might just stay put for a while.

The boy tiled his head in confusion, narrowing his eyes and trying to figure out if he knew her. Suddenly his eyes widened in recognition. "You got off the wagon with Bon's guys!" he exclaimed, a wide grin creeping up onto his face.

She glowered at him. Why did everyone seem to know that? Had the whole city been watching? "What's it to you?"

"I'm friends with Bon, so that makes us friends by association," he said grinning at his own stupid logic.

Sanji raised an eyebrow at the boy, "That doesn't make us friends and I'm not friends with Bon."

"Then why would he bring you in from the royal kingdom? Do you work for him? I haven't seen you in the house," he said eyeing her in confusion.

Sanji wondered why a little boy like him spent so much time in a brothel like Bon's that he could notice she didn't work there. Maybe she didn't really want to know. She glared at him sharply all the same. "I was just catching a ride, now if you'll excuse me." She stood and started to move away unsteadily when the boy hopped up next to her.

"I'm Luffy," he said with a happy laugh.

"I'm leaving now," Sanji said back, starting to move away.

"But I don't know your name yet," he whined, moving to follow her.

"And I won't give it to you, so leave me alone," she grumbled, her stomach was cold and empty and all she wanted was food. She started walking away and when the boy, Luffy, followed. So, she started to run. She dodged through people and alleys but the boy was on her like a shadow. He wouldn't leave no matter how much she threatened him. She tried pulling a knife on hum but he just dodged. He seem dangerous, just annoying, so Sanji decided to just continue on with her day trying to ignore him. When they met up with Nami she seemed to find this boy incredibly amusing for irritating Sanji, but she had tried to run him off with a stick when he still insisted on following them around.

Eventually, the two of them got tired of running and Nami decided, as Sanji had, to ignore him while they went to catch birds. Pigeons liked to hang out near to the food venders so they went to the edge of the market. The fat little birds waddled around across the stone as Sanji snuck up on one of them. Catching birds was hard but she had spent enough time by now to know how to do it. Nami wasn't quite as good at it but she could catch one or two.

Sanji lurched forward and caught one. She nearly let it go from the shock of what she saw beside her. Luffy had stretched his arms to an absurd length to catch another bird. His hands shot back into shape and he held out the bird to Sanji with a proud grin. Then Sanji though that she didn't mind him so much. Anyone willing to give her food like that couldn't be too terrible, right?

"How did you do that?" Nami asked in disbelief.

Luffy grinned, "I ate a devils fruit and it turned me to rubber."

That explained it. But where could a weird little boy like this one get his rubbery hands on a devils fruit?

Sanji caught another bird after that. She killed the birds and made a little fire in an alley using a hunk if steel and a flint stone to make a spark. She cooked up the birds the best she could. They had to burn whatever they had on and and a lot of that was trash that made the meat taste funny. Regardless, Luffy devoured his bit in almost a minute and cried for more, but Sanji had nothing else to give him.

That night when the boy fell asleep Sanji grabbed Nami and snuck away from him, she didn't want a companion, that could get them killed. They didn't know who he was after all. She didn't touch any of his things, she wasn't that much of a scum bag, at least not yet.

Unfortunately, the next day he ran into them again and refused to leave, insisting that they were friends. Sanji begrudgingly let him stick around and grew to like him more and more by the day. He was a sweet and innocent kid, although he was somewhat of an idiot.

Luffy had repeatedly bothered Sanji about getting their names and so they had to think of ones. They couldn't use her own names, that would be too obvious. Sanji wracked her head for a suitable name. She though back to when she was in the royal city and a baker had tried to dump dirty wash water on her head, calling her the prince of flees. In a way she kind if liked the name, in the very least it was amusing and fitting as she had almost been a princess. So she told him that she didn't have a real name but to call her Prince. Nami had laughed so hard Sanji thought she might pee herself, but only when Luffy wasn't around to hear her. Nami just decided that she would actually use her Nami. It was a common enough name in the city and no one would probably recognize her by Nami, plus, they weren't in the royal city anymore anyway. Sanji didn't like it but she couldn't take it back now.

Living around another person was both a blessing and a curse. It was good to run around and talk with someone new but it was harder to hide the fact that Sanji was a girl. She wouldn't have minded so much but with as many weirdos as there were around she would rather no one knew and she couldn't put all her trust in this boy with no idea what he might do. Luffy seemed to have a lot of friends and he didn't have a controllable mouth as far as she could tell. He acted well enough around Nami though, but Nami was under Sanji's protection and as long as people thought she was a boy no one would challenge that protection.

One day when they were wandering through the street Luffy had given a cry of joy and ran off toward one of the shops along the way. From the look of it the place was a smithery, Sanji could hear the clanging of a hammer on metal. Luffy slipped happily through the door and Sanji trailed after him uncertainly, Nami pulling her along.

The smith stopped his banging at the sight of Luffy.

"Zoro!" Luffy cried in joy.

Zoro was a tall, although not much taller than Sanji, and muscular boy. He looked to be about Sanji's age, maybe a little older. He had the look of one of the southern islanders; his skin was tan, his eyes narrow and dark, but his hair was an unnatural green color. Unmistakably, he was a slave, he had the slave marking tattooed on his neck, an inky black 'X'. The tattoo was a visible reminder, but there was magic in that mark, it didn't allow the marked individual to refuse an order from his or her master. Usually, the first order given was to not kill their master. This was one of the most commonly used magics and a very costly at that. Magic could be rather fickle sometimes but it was the best way to produce completely loyal slaves. When a slave was freed the mark turned white like a scar and the spell was broken. The only way to be freed was to have the master die or to have them revoke their ownership on their slave, but that wasn't likely to happen.

Zoro looked up at the three of them, his eyes sliding from Luffy, to Nami, to Sanji. Luffy ran up to him but Sanji hung back slightly, sizing him up.

"Zoro, this is Prince," Luffy said, "He's friends with Bon. And that is Nami, she's friends with him too.

Zoro raised an eyebrow at that. "Prince?" he said, "Strange name for a beggar boy." The boy had an accent, it was noticeable but not so heavy. "Although, I guess if he's friends with Bon he must be a prostitute, in which the name fits just fine." It was hard to judge if he was joking or not.

Sanji glared at him and said nothing, although she had to bite her tongue. She didn't trust this boy. If she didn't say anything them maybe Luffy would just leave.

"What was it like in the castle?" Luffy asked excitedly.

"Big and everyone was always ordering me around," Zoro grumbled. Nami snorted at that but Sanji held her tongue.

Luffy turned the two girls. "Zoro was up in the castle making a sword for one of the knights," he explained. He must have been good then if some Lord had called on him. Lords only ever called on the best iron workers. From the look at this place the green haired boy specialized in the art if sword making. There swords of all varieties laying around waiting for use. Sanji's hand twitched as she imagined having all those blades at her fingertips but she resisted the urge to grab one. Instead she rested her hand against the hilt of one if her daggers.

"Do you do that a lot?" Nami asked.

"What, go to the castle? Sometimes, when they call for me," he shrugged.

They continued to exchange pleasantries while Sanji ignored them in favor of looking at the weapons. When she looked up again Zoro was giving her a strange look. "What's wrong with him?" he asked, "Is he mute?"

"I can speak well enough," Sanji said in response. She imagined that someone must have asked her a question that she hadn't answered.

"Oh, so the boy can talk. So tell me, curly brow, can you use those little knives, or are they just for show?" he taunted, poking at the sheathed knives hanging at her side.

Sanji twitched at the insult to her eyebrows and gripped the hilts of both her daggers. "Would you like to find out?" She probably shouldn't be challenging people after what happened to the last boy who had formally challenged her, but something about this guy made her want to cut his stupid face off.

Zoro smirked at that, "I would, if you're not too scared."

"Bring it on," Sanji smirked. She had fought against Zeff, this boy would be no problem, she might have been more concerned if he were a squire but he was only a smith and a slave to boot.

Zoro smirked back, apparently equally as confident. "I have to finish this first, it'll only take like ten minutes," he promised. He would love nothing more than to rub the blond's face into the dirt but he was magically bound to finish his tasks first.

"Can we take some food?" Luffy asked, grabbing his empty stomach.

"I didn't see anything," Zoro said, returning to his pounding.

Luffy grabbed Nami by the hand and pulled her along up into the house attached to the shop as Sanji trailed along after them, staying a moment to glare at Zoro. Luffy quickly found the stored meat and began scarfing it down. He tried leaving some for the other two, who ate with nearly matched vigor they were so hungry.

"Will that boy get in trouble for this?" Nami asked, she didn't care that much but she did wonder.

Luffy shook his head, "Zoro's master is old and forgets stuff. Zoro says he's going to die soon and when he does we're going to get out of here and travel to another city."

"Why?" Asked Sanji in confusion.

"Adventure!" exclaimed Luffy. "I want to go all around the world and meet all the people!"

Sanji snorted, "You are very strange," she said. But Nami grinned with the boy.

"You can come with us," Luffy said eagerly.

Sanji paused for a moment to consider it seriously, was that a good idea? She did like the idea of adventure and what was the harm in agreeing when it probably wouldn't happen anyway? Luffy said many things but that didn't mean they would all happen.

"Maybe we will," she said with a shrug.

"Of course we will," Nami said, "You idiots would be lost without someone to guide you around.

"You can read a map?" Luffy asked.

"Yes, I live for map reading. Someday I'll make a map of the whole world," Nami said proudly.

"Can that guy downstairs read a map?" Sanji wondered.

Luffy started laughing. "Zoro can't even find the market when he goes to buy food."

Sanji snorted, what an idiot.

They continued eating until Zoro came up with three swords in hand. They weren't like a knight's sword, they were in the style of the southern islands, katanas they were called. Sanji wondered what the hell he could be doing with three when he called them to follow him. Sanji stood with Nami and Luffy, her belly fuller than it had been in many days.

Zoro lead them out of the house to an empty square, far from the market. The houses surrounding it were older and falling to bits, there were no people around aside from the occasional sleeping beggar. When they came into the square Zoro stopped and turned to them. He drew one sword and left the others sheathed in their scabbards. He was smirking confidently and Sanji wanted very much to wipe that look off his face. She turned and gave her bag to Nami, She tossed her scabbard to the ground as she drew her knives, kicking it aside. It would only get in her way.

Luffy stood watching them face off in excitement. He raised a hand like he was starting a race and shouted, "Fight!" Slashing the hand downward.

They both acted at the same time cutting through the air toward each other. Zoro was fast and he was strong but Sanji could hold her own against him. She matched his every blow, sliding her blades quickly across his and spinning away when he aimed at her. He managed to duck away from all her strikes as well.

Sanji kept the fight 'clean' until Zoro started to get the upper hand, then she started to use her feet. While she blocked Zoro's sword she aimed a kick at his head. He ducked out of the way but gave her a strange look. She expected him to say that she was a cheater for using a trick like that but he didn't, he only fought harder.

Using her legs they were more evenly matched and Zoro took a second sword to fight with. He was harder to hit after that but Sanji landed a few hits on him and him on her. Luffy and Nami cheered them on until they were both bruised, sweaty, and a little bloody at which point a temporary truce was called.

Zoro was grinning at her like some sort of crazy person. "You're good," he admitted.

Sanji's heart swelled slightly at that. She was good, wasn't she? She was glad someone besides Nami was telling her. Zeff would never say she was doing a good job, only that she could always do better. "You're not so bad yourself," she said back, a wolfish grin on her face. "For some one with moss growing out of their head, that is."

Zoro's eyebrow twitched, "At least I'm not a curly faced weirdo like you."

"I am not a weirdo!" Sanji shouted.

"Yes, you are. You just don't see it because people have been too polite to tell you until now."

"Wow, you are such an asshole," Sanji scoffed, wiping sweat from her brow.

"Then you better learn to fight better so you can kick my ass."

"I don't need to learn, I already have the skill to literally kick your ass."

"Then why did we tie?"

"Because I hadn't eaten anything in like two days and then I stuffed myself," she pointed out.

"Fine, I guess you'll have to come back so I can beat you later."

Sanji smirked, "As if, it will be me who's beating you, idiot." But she agreed to come back anyway, not that she had much of a choice, Luffy would have dragged them back regardless of how she might feel about this bastard.

Oddly enough, she realized that even if she absolutely did not want to come back to this place, or to any place really, she would still come back if Luffy wanted her to. It was very strange. Somehow this straw hat wearing boy had won her trust, she wasn't sure when it had happened or what he had done exactly but there it was. And if Luffy trusted Zoro and Sanji could trust him too.

XxxX

A/N: Magic and slaves, ah the midevil times. Ugh, why does Sanji have to have such a pretentious alias? Seriously, it makes me want to punch him.

*Is awkwardly adding in parts for Nami* Is it obvious? In this chapter is :/

Also, I don't know what pronoun to use when it comes to Iva. Is he a man who just likes to dress as a woman or does he identify as female? I just went with the male pronoun just incase I was overthinking things.

Tumblr: opens-up-4-nobody

Thanks.


	4. Umbrella Beach

Home will always be here, unseen, outta sight  
Where I disappear and hide  
I think dreamy things as I'm waving goodbye  
So I'll spread out my wings and fly

-"Umbrella Beach" Owl City

XxxX

Zoro became a sort of add on to their little group, although Sanji suspected that she and Nami were more the add ons than he was. He had been there first, to be fair. They would see him whenever they could, but most of the time he had to work so he was a kind of distant figure, while Luffy was alway there to be annoying. Nami was better at dealing with him, she just punched him in the head when he was being too stupid. Sanji tended to shout a lot and get into little fights when she was angry, that encouraged more brotherly bonding than obedience.

When they did join up with Zoro, Sanji got to fight with him and that was one of the best things about this stupid city. She got to fight with a boy she could challenge herself against. If only he knew he was competing with a girl, she wondered how he would feel about that. Nami seemed to find it quite amusing, she always got this little smirk on her face when she watched them fight.

After a fortnight and a half there came a day where Zoro went out to find them, rather than the other way around. Normally, Zoro wasn't allowed to leave the forge so they had to go after him. He didn't have many rules but that was one of them. Zoro didn't seem to have it so bad as a slave, as far as slaves went. Sanji suspected that this had much to do with his master being old and ill. Still, even with a relatively easy life as a slave held that indignation that came with being owned by another human being.

They had been at the riverside, trying to catch fish when he ran up to them. The first thing she noticed was the huge fucking smile on his stupid face. She didn't think she'd ever seen him look so happy, not that she knew him particularly well. As he neared she noticed that the tattoo on his neck had gone white. He was released.

"What happened?" Nami asked in shock, eyeing the newly white skin.

"My master died, I'm fucking free," he grinned brilliantly. He was very happy for the old man's death and glad he didn't have anyone to claim him as property after his death. It was typical for a slave to immediately be recaptured and claimed to a new master after release, but the old man had been barely wealthy enough to by a proper slave in the first place.

"How?" Sanji asked.

Zoro shrugged. "I didn't stick around to find out, probably whatever the fuck he was sick with."

That was fair enough but Sanji hoped that whatever the illness was it would not spread. A few years ago there was a illness that had swept though the lands and had caused the deaths of so many that mass graves had to be built in order to dispose of them.

"Does this mean we can go on an adventure?" Luffy asked.

"You bet it does!" Zoro smirked back, patting the bag at his side and grabbing at his katanas. "I've already got my stuff."

"Then let's go!" Luffy exclaimed.

Zoro then turned to Sanji, assuming that she would speak for herself and for Nami. "Are you coming?" he asked.

She was surprised that he was the one to ask her and she hesitated, it would be more dangerous traveling with the two of them. They would probably quickly find out she was a girl and she didn't want that. It would change the way they looked at her and it would be like someone taking away a freedom from her. Plus, having Nami with them out them at particular risk on the roads. But she did want to go, there was nothing keeping her here, so why not go? She looked to Nami for her permission and the girl nodded in return.

After a pause to consider Sanji nodded as well, "Let's go!" She announced, and the two boys grinned back at her.

XxxX

Getting out of the city wasn't hard. Zoro had some money stored up to buy three horses when added with what money Nami had. That used up most of their cash and they couldn't buy a fourth so they would have to take turns of trading someone also bought a hunting bow and arrows, just in case, and Sanji used some coins she found to buy some food for the road.

With one final glance behind them they retreated out of the gates and onto the trade roads. Luffy had a map he had stolen from a shop to guide them, but he had given it to Nami to show them the way. The look on the girl's face when she had been handed the map was precious. It was probably up there in the ranks of her happiest moments of all time.

Traveling by horse was difficult on the body. Nami was the best at riding, having been taught how to at a very young age. Sanji had also learned young but only after she arrived in the royal kingdom. It seemed like forever ago that either of them had ridden a horse and by the end of the day they were all sore and tired. They stopped for sleep somewhere in the woods, starting a small fire and eating some of the food. They had to take turns keeping watch, the world outside was a dangerous place.

By the time half a fortnight rolled around they all had riding blisters and were about another two days from the next city. They stopped at a lake outside a little farm town for rest. At the sight of the water Luffy had torn off his clothes and jumped into the lake, much to Sanji's dismay. That was the trouble in traveling with boys, they felt comfortable enough to run around naked, at least when Nami wasn't around. She was off trying to start a fire currently. Thankfully, Luffy had jumped into water that only went up to his chest because he couldn't actually swim. Moron.

Zoro turned to her. "Are you gonna get in?" he asked. Luffy would need someone to watch him.

She shook her head, she wished she could. That way she could get this layer of dirt off of her but then she would look even more girly than she had before, without her dirt mask. Nami thought she was being ridiculous for not telling them she was a girl. They treated Nami fine but being one of the guys was different than being that girl who was almost like one of the guys. She wasn't willing to give that up, not just yet. There was also the matter of Zoro and how he might react to knowing he fought with a girl. There was always that possibility that he would refuse to fight with her after that.

"Why not?" He pressed.

"Because not all of us require soaking in water in order to grow, marimo."

Zoro made a face, "Marino?"

"Yeah, they're-"

"I know what they are, how do you know?"

Sanji had read about marimos in some book. They were little green balls of algae that grew on one of the southern islands. "Because I know everything."

He rolled his eyes, "Whatever, if you're not getting in, help Nami a fire," he said giving her his horse to tie up as he removed his shirt. As he pulled it up she caught site of the huge gnarled scar on his chest, Sanji had seen it before but had never asked about it. She turned her eyes away and huffed in irritation, but led the horses to graze, not wanting to see Zoro naked. She wished that she could have had a little brother, then she might not have felt so uncomfortable with male anatomy, but as it happened she did not and she was uncomfortable. More so with Zoro than with Luffy. Luffy was still half a child and he looked and acted as such, but Zoro was more a man than not. But she tried not to think about that too much. So, instead of being mature and just walking away she kicked him into the water while his pants were still on, because that's how she dealt with things that made her uncomfortable. Zoro came up swearing but Sanji was gone before he could think to get back at her.

"Are they swimming?" Nami asked as she saw Sanji's approach.

Sanji nodded, crossing her arms over her chest. "I will never get used to seeing naked boys," she sighed.

Nami laughed, "Then tell them your a girl and you won't have to see it."

"If I tell them I'm a girl they might be even more willing to show me their anatomy," she pouted. They wouldn't, she knew, but she said it for the sake of humor anyway.

"Oh, and you wouldn't want that," Nami's giggled with a strange edge in her voice.

Sanji was immediately defensive. "What?" she demanded.

"Nothing," Nami shook her head.

"No, you meant something. Are you insinuating that I would enjoy gazing lustfully on the male physic?" Sanji said suspiciously.

"Someone's male physic." She blinked innocently.

Sanji made a face. "I'm just going to hope you're talking about Zoro, as horrifying as that is, because if you're talking about Luffy than I would feel like some sort of child predator."

"That would be correct. All I'm saying is that Zoro has a nice face and you two tend to get rather... close while you're fighting."

Sanji covered her ears to block out the words. "Nope, I'm not listening to this. You're trying to poison my ears with horrible little seeds and I will not have it."

"The seed has already been planted," Nami grinned. "Now all you need to do is let it grow."

"Or dig it up before it messes up my brain," Sanji offered.

Nami kept poking fun at her while they got the fire going. Luffy and Zoro returned, thankfully with pants on, with three big fish which Sanji proceeded to prepare with a dagger as an aid. She always did the cooking because she was the only one who could cook, not that she had much to work with but she never burnt what they had. Nami always burnt food when she had to cook, she was terrible at it but Sanji always ate anything she made with as much grace as she could manage.

They ate heartily and after dinner Zoro and Sanji sparred for a while as Nami took the chance to bathe in the water and Luffy whined about wanting to go back to the lake. They were both exhausted and sweaty by the time they were done and evening was starting to fall, Nami was already back. Zoro finally gave in and went to the lake to wash off his sticky skin. Sanji refused to go, a fact that confused Zoro greatly.

"Why not?" he asked, "There aren't leaches in the water or anything. Don't you want to not smell like a dead animal?"

Sanji rolled her eyes at that. She knew she must smell horrible, but she wasn't about to get in the water with them. She managed to shoo Zoro away eventually and took it as an opportunity to get rid of the fish remains scattering their little camp.

The boys returned at dark and everyone took their turns with the watch as they made for sleep. Luffy was first watch, Sanji second, Zoro third, Nami finished the night off. During her watch Sanji found herself wondering for some reason about Zoro's scar, she imagined that it was partially because of that malignant seed that Nami had planted, but she wondered none the less. She would have to ask him about it at some point, any scar that big must have an exciting story to go along with it. When she woke him for the watch she was about to fall asleep when she decided to say something about it.

"Hey, seaweed head," she said softly, maybe too softly. When she talked like that she sounded more like a girl. "Where did you get that scar?" She made a motion across her chest to indicate which scar she meant. Maybe that was a weird thing to ask at a time like this, she justified her actions by saying the only reason she was asking was that she was too tired to think reasonably.

Zoro eyed her for a moment before speaking. "The man who made me a slave gave me that scar. When I challenged him to a fight he cut me down like I was nothing. I was twelve then."

"How did you not die?" Sanji wondered aloud. The scar was very deep after all.

"He said that I was good and he would like to face me in the future, when I'm ready. I'm guessing he got me patched up before sending me off on a slave ship to cross the sea." Zoro shrugged.

"Sounds like a stellar guy," Sanji scoffed. Cutting up a twelve year old and selling him off sounded like a very cowardly thing to do.

"It was Dracule Mihawk, the greatest swordsman in the world. Someday I'm going to find him and I'm going to kill him, but not until I'm strong enough."

Sanji had heard that name before, he was some pirate who captured slaves and brought havoc on those who crossed him. She remembered being unimpressed with his attitude but grudgingly impressed with his skill. "You're barely strong enough to face me," she snickered, if only he knew how ironic that was.

Zoro made a face. "That's different, I'm not trying to kill you when we fight and you don't just use steel. I can beat you if you don't use your little chicken legs."

Sanji snorted although the truth of his words made her heart hurt, "Well, we can't all be blessed with such generous muscles, you have the advantage by the gods and your parents." He had been born with a heavier physic and that's how she meant for him to take the comment but he also had the advantage of being born with a Y chromosome.

"True enough, and I'm going to use it all in order to crush you in our next spar. Your enemies won't spare you because you're built like a maid." A jest, nothing more but that hit a little too close to home. She felt a prickly of alarm crawl up her spine.

"Are you calling me a girl?" she demanded in offense.

"Yeah, I am."

"Even if I were a girl, if still kick your stupid ass," she spat. Just imagine what she could do if she were a boy.

"Maybe you would." He had a strange look on his face and for a moment he didn't say anything. "I guess it doesn't matter though, either way I'm going to crush Mihawk."

Sanji let out a soft sigh, hardly able to keep her eyes open for another moment. "I'm sure you will," mumbled but she wasn't sure he heard. She was sure of her words, Zoro had an obsessive resolve with which he could accomplish anything. She didn't see his reaction to that because her eyes slid shut and she fell asleep.

In the morning they were on the road again. A day before they reached the next city Luffy got so sick he could hardly walk. Sanji suspected it was from something he had eaten, he was always putting things that he shouldn't into his mouth. They had to tether him to his horse so he wouldn't fall off and Nami had to ride with Sanji for the rest of their travel. They managed to get him into the city resolving to find a healer of some form. But this city was a strange place, it was home of Druid people and magical items were sold in the streets.

When they entered the city gates they payed for the horses to be put in stables and wandered off through the streets, Luffy slung on Zoro's back. There were many strange people here wearing animal skins and bones for clothing. Most of the other street kids wore nothing at all and cast then wary glances as they walked by. It was hard to say what they might be thinking of them.

They paused to talk about how they should go about finding a healer. No one was likely to help them without a sufficient amount of money that they couldn't give and none of them knew anything about treating the sick. That was when he had approached to ask if they needed help. He being the little reindeer boy. He had tugged generally at Nami's arm to grab her attention and she had nearly fallen over in shock.

"W-What?" She managed to sputter. Standing at her side was a short, furry creature with a little blue nose and a large pink hat.

The reindeer looked at her nervously. "You need a healer?" he asked, stunning Nami further, but she trained her face into a pleasant mask like she had been taught. She didn't like being caught in this sort of surprise and the boy looked like he had been the victim to more than a few cruel japes.

"Uh, yes, we are looking for a healer," she said, nodding at Luffy who was laying pathetically on the ground at Zoro's feet.

The boy looked at Luffy for a moment before answering, "No one will help if you don't have money, but I can try to help him."

Nami had looked at him graciously, but slightly doubtful. "Do you know anything about healing?" she asked not unkindly. He was strange to look at but he spoke softly and he was trying to help after all.

"I was a healer's assistant but she's uh..." He looked down at his feet. He didn't have to finish, she understood.

"Anything you can do we would appreciate." She glanced over at Zoro who stood silently beside her looking down at the kid. Zoro always turned uselessly silent when new people showed up. She wasn't sure if he just didn't like new people or if it was something he had picked up after years as a slave but maybe it was for the best, he did tend to be on the honest side. Honesty wasn't always good for making friends. Sanji wasn't very good at making friends either, they could be not friends together if they stopped hating each other so much.

The kid approached the sick boy. He was just a kid, or at least it could assumed he was. His aura read as a child probably younger than Luffy. "What happened to him?" the boy asked.

"I think he probably ate something bad," Sanji told him.

The little blue nosed reindeer examined Luffy, poking and prodding here and there before standing and giving them a list of only five things to retrieve for him. Cautiously, Sanji and Nami set off to get them, leaving Zoro with the boy and the reindeer. Sanji was nervous about leaving Luffy, but he wasn't in good shape and Sanji's gut was telling her to trust the little guy. Zoro didn't object either so she assumed he got the same feeling, which was a relief because she would trust Zoro's gut more than she would her own in this sort of situation. He may have been useless when it came to directions or being tactful or pretty much everything else but he always seemed to know when something was up. There had even been a few times when she was worried he might call her out as a girl but that had yet to happen. Currently, he only thought her a very strange boy.

They bought two of the objects from the list and the rest they stole. Sanji had gotten good at stealing but she wasn't as good as Zoro and she was sure that neither of them were half as good as Nami, but Luffy was dreadful at stealing.

They returned and were relieved to see the antlered little boy kneeling over Luffy, a hand hovering over the center of his chest he looked up as they approached. Then grabbed a bowl from the back at his back. He took the ingredients, mashed them with a mortal and pestle, mixed it with down liquid from a pouch and poured it into Luffy's mouth. After the sick boy had swallowed the reindeer brought his hand back to his chest, chanted some words under his breath. An action that made the hair on the back of Sanji's neck stand up. Magic was not common in the royal kingdom, it wasn't forbidden but it was a source of much fear.

A few seconds later Luffy sat up and looked around, blinking and wondering what was going on. Zoro, Nami. and Sanji both gaped at him incredulously.

"What's your name, kid?" Sanji asked when she had recovered from her shock.

"Chopper," the reindeer said smiling.

"Thank you Chopper, you're a life saver," Nami grinned and the kid shuffled his feet in embarrassment.

"Shut up, I am not, you bastard," he said although he was grinning and wiggling like an adorable idiot.

"I'm Luffy!" Luffy said with a stupid grin, "This is Zoro, this is Nami, and that is Prince." He pointed to each in turn. Sanji was fairly used to being called Prince by now but sometimes it still felt weird especially when Nami said it.

"Is there anything to do in this city?" Luffy prompted eager to explore now that he suddenly had his health back.

Chopper thought about it, "Uh, sometimes shows are put on in the city square but it's not the right season for that, you should come back in winter for shows." Winter was the time to praise the gods and many impressive shows were put on.

Luffy frowned at that, "Aw, what are we going to do now?"

"We need more supplies," Zoro offered, they had only few arrows and they were in need of money so it was the perfect chance for some good old pick pocketing.

Luffy thought for a moment, "I want to see the map," he told Nami who brought out the map for him and laid it out on the ground for Luffy to study. "Let's go here," he said, pointing to a city on the opposite side of the continent.

"The city of One Piece? Why would you want to go there?" asked Sanji curiously. The city of One Piece was a very old city, it was the most ancient on known record, in fact, and it was where the devils fruit tree grew.

The story of the city was a sort of fable that had been passed along for more than five hundred years. From what Sanji had read and heard about it, the city was decrepit and crumbling to bits because of the tree. The ground had been rich and fertile but then devils planted the tree to punish the king of the land, Gol D. Roger, for his hedonistic lust for treasure. The king had ruler over all the land at the time and was a very cruel leader, seeking gold and glory, leaving nothing for the people of the gods. He had risen to power after having slain the king before him in combat, then he had been a good man but the power drove him mad. He became a paranoid fool who killed men and woman just for looking at him the wrong way.

It was said that the seed of the devils fruit tree grew up from the heart of his treasure room, engulfing it with it's sudden and rapid growth. The king was so devastated that he had tried attacked the tree in his madness while it was still growing and became ensnarled in it as well, his men let him be taken.

From then on the land around One Piece had been barren, the tree soaking up all the nutrients just as the king had done with his gold. Every now and then there was a story of some fool who tried to dig down to the buried treasure but nothing ever came of them.

Mostly when the city was talked about it was for its devils fruits. The magical fruits born by the king slaying tree and made rich by his gold. While the fruits had great power they seldom fell from the great height of the tree without being smashed to pieces. When the fruit was smashed the magic was gone from it. Besides that the city was near impossible to reach without serious risk to the traveler's life being in the middle of a desolate wasteland. People did still live in the city, but they apparently lived off of tree bark and dirt, or so the stories went.

Some fruits did sometimes surface despite all the odds, Luffy was evidence of that. And that seemed to be the only evidence the the famed city really existed at all. Sometimes it seemed more of a fairy tale.

"I was born there," Luffy explained, "I have to go back so I claim my right."

Sanji was stunned. How he could have ended up here so far from home was hard to imagine. She had heard him talking about traveling on ships before so he must have sail away from home that way. But still, to meet someone from the city was very strange, let alone to know one for an extended period of time without that knowledge.

"What right is that?" Zoro asked.

Luffy shrugged, "I was gone before anyone told me."

Sanji shook her head in disbelief, Luffy could be ridiculous sometimes. Still, it was as good a plan as any. It wasn't like she had better things to do or anywhere really to go. Although she was curious was to why Luffy hadn't said he wanted to go there from the start. They could have taken a ship to the city and made for a much shorter journey but they were too far south for that now. And they would need to be much better prepared if they were going to cross the wastelands to the city. It was not going to be an easy journey but fuck it, it did sound interesting.

Nami made an irritated sound, "I wish you could have said something before that, we could already be a fourth of the way there by now."

"Nah," Luffy dismissed, "That would be boring, and plus we wouldn't have me Chopper." He grinned at the younger boy.

It was decided that they would stay in the city for three days and then head further south around the sea dividing the land and west toward the end of the continent. Chopper stuck with them, showing them all the ways around and how things worked.

XxxX

On the second day of their stay they had been pick pocketing and Sanji was chased into an alley. Just as she ditched the angry woman pursuing her, she felt arms snake around around her stomach and a dagger at her throat. She froze where she stood. There had been no one there a moment before, she was positive. So, how could he have grabbed her? Maybe she had just been careless but she somehow didn't think so. The man, for he was a man, pressed his lips close to her ear and whispered, "I'll be needing you to come quietly, my lady, I wouldn't want to have to use this."

Her blood ran cold and she tried to move her head to see who it was that had caught her but he pressed down harder at her throat. How could someone have found her? No one knew her name, no one would recognize her here, she was sure, how could he have known?

She opened her mouth to say something when the man gave a jerk and gasped in pain. At his sudden weakness Sanji hooked a leg around his knee and jerked his feet out from under him, drew her dagger and stuck it into his throat. He gurgled and was dead. She looked up to see Zoro standing there, the edge of his sword bloody.

"You alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, just some creep," Sanji said gruffly, trying to mask any lingering fear as she examined the man. Zoro nodded sympathetically, he knew how the streets could be, and helped her in looting him. He had a pouch of coins, bags of strange powder, an expensive looking dagger, and a scroll of paper which Sanji unrolled and read through. It was a warrant for her arrest, she was glad that Zoro couldn't read because he was looking over her shoulder at the words.

"Can you read?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied automatically.

"What's it say then?" He seemed surprised that she knew how, to be fair it would be shocking if she were actually a street boy but she had been born a noble Lady after all and she liked to read.

"It's just some boring letter about some Lady," she said trying to pocket the letter. That wasn't really a lie.

"If it's so boring then why did you take it from him?"

"Because I did, now let's go sell off his stuff."

"No, not until you tell me what it says," Zoro said stubbornly.

Sanji groaned, "Why do you want to know?"

"Because you won't tell me."

Sanji rolled her eyes and unfurled the paper for him. There was a picture of her she saw when she rolled it out but it was so hideously done that it looked nothing like her. She remembered the day the original was commissioned. It was the day after she had burned her hand when some idiot shoved her while she was cooking so she couldn't go help in the kitchens. The artist had been pompous and rude to her, not to mention his horrible flirting. He had insisted that the picture would be better if she were nude. She told him that if he painted her without clothes she would shove his paintbrushes up his ass one at a time then every turn he looked up while painting her she made horrible faces. The result had been a very ugly painting and an insulted artist. He had two fingers removed for the picture's bad quality. They had planned on having another in but not before she had run away. Now all there warrants were based on that painting for those who couldn't read. She never though she would be thankful for such a hideous depiction of herself.

"It's a warrant for the arrest of some Lady from the royal kingdom. She apparently killed some lord and kidnapped a ward of the King," she said, keeping her voice natural sounding, trying to hide her nervousness.

"Which Lady?" asked Zoro suspiciously expecting her to lie.

"Uh," she made a show of searching for the name on the paper. "The Lady Sanji of house Black." She pointed to her own name even though he couldn't read it.

Zoro seemed to accept that answer. "How much is her bounty?"

"More coin than you've ever held in your grubby little fingers," she laughed. The reward was rather hefty but she was wanted alive at least, she would have to look out for more bounty hunters. Not all of them would be as reckless as this one had been.

"We'll have to keep an eye out for her then," he said looking the picture over, "She's probably been captured by now though, that's not a face many people would forget."

Sanji glared at the picture, how true that was.

"Where did you learn to read?" Zoro asked curiously. It wasn't exactly common to be a street rat and know how to read.

"A girl taught me how," Sanji said, thinking of the teacher she had had back when she was little. The girl had been a servant to her and just twenty years of age. She didn't need to ask why Zoro couldn't read. He was a poor foreign boy and a former slave, it didn't take a genius to do the math on that one.

"Was it hard to learn?" The boy asked.

"I guess, I don't really remember it being that hard but I was really little." Her servant girl said she was better than most little girls her age so she had to guess that she must have been pretty good. She did like reading alright, it could be very useful. "You should learn to read," she told him, "It's more useful than you might think."

Zoro wrinkled his nose. "Oh, yeah? And are you going to teach me then?"

"I could, if you really wanted to learn," she shrugged. How hard could it be?

He eyed her like he suspected she was lying to him. "Why?"

"Because it's a good skill to have." It's not like she had a burning desire to help him, she just thought it would be good if he could learn a bit. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

"You'd really do it?" It seemed that he was unfamiliar to sudden acts of kindness, she seemed to think she had some devious motive in wanting to help him. That made her a little sad but she brushed the thought aside.

"Sure," Sanji said flicking a strand of hair from her face. "We can start when we get back if you want."

He nodded briskly and they continued on silently. Sanji figured that if she was going to teach him she may as well teach the others, although she suspected Chopper may already know how to read. She had seen him looking over parchments before. And she knew that Nmai could read but she doubted Luffy could. She wondered if Luffy could even sit still long enough to learn.

They met the others in the alley they claimed as their home for now. Zoro had two loaves of bread for them and Sanji had a bag full of coins. Nami had three bags.

As they tucked into their meal Sanji drew out the scroll she had taken off the bounty hunter. Chopper had a pen and ink so she took it out and began to write the alphabet on the back of the paper, both capital and lower case letters. Nami glanced curiously over her shoulder as she did so but waited for her to say what she was doing.

When she was done she looked up to the boys. "Any of you know how to read?" she asked, although she was mostly just asking Chopper.

Luffy shook his head but Chopper nodded. "I learned when I was little," he told her. He was still little but she knew what he meant.

"Then you two come over here." She waved over Zoro and Luffy, then pointed to the letters. "I'm going to teach you to read."

"What is this?" Zoro asked.

"It's the alphabet, moss head."

"Why do I have to know that? Can't I just learn words? These pieces aren't going to help me," he scoffed.

"You can't figure out words you don't know if you don't have the pieces to make them," she sighed. Language was complicated.

"I don't want to read," Luffy whined, "Reading is boring."

"It's a good thing to know," Sanji told him, unimpressed with his whining.

"You can't make me learn," he said, sticking out his tongue at her.

"Oh yes, I can," she said, grabbing his leg as he tried to run away from her, yanking him back to sit in the dirt. She sat on him until he had given up the struggle. Then she started her lesson, having them repeat the sounds back to her and write the letters in the dirt with sticks.

Zoro was better at reciting the letters than Luffy was and he seemed to memorize the letters faster as well. That wasn't entirely unexpected, he seemed to be trying a lot harder than Luffy. After a while Sanji decided to take pity on them and end the lesson for the day but vowed to teach them more later. Maybe it wouldn't be so easy as she thought but she was determined to do it anyway.

When the day came for them to leave the city Chopper went with them. He had grown attached to their little group and they had grown attached to him. He didn't have anything left in the city after the death of his healing teacher. They didn't have enough for another horse so he had to take turns riding with them. He was small so it wasn't so bad but they had two horses riding double now and it was an inconvenience.

XxxX

A/N: Poor Sanji, she just wants to be one of the guys :(

Thanks.


	5. Hopeless Bleak Dispair

I never knew what everybody meant  
By endless, hopeless, bleak despair  
Until one day when I found out  
The first time I ever left my house  
It saw me and followed me home  
And stayed with me for my whole life

-"Hopeless Bleak Despair" They Might Be Giants

XxxX

The farther south they went the hotter it got. They had been riding for almost twenty days and it was all they could do to keep from melting away. When they rode two to a horse it was even worse because you couldn't keep away from the person you were riding with and the heat radiated and made the skin slick with sweat.

Sanji had not given up in her endeavor to teach the boys to read. They had both memorized the letters well enough by then to start on simple words. The more she taught them the more Luffy began to pull ahead in learning, which was the opposite of what she had expected. Zoro had a tendency to write letters completely ass backward, Sanji wasn't even sure how that was possible but she though it might have something to do with his brain because no matter how hard he tried he still did it. Luffy wasn't exactly a great student when it came to focusing, but he did better with words than Zoro. He would get done faster than the moss head and Sanji would have to spend extra time with the swordsman. He really did try his hardest, that was the sad part. He would get so damn frustrated afterward that he would demand Sanji fight with him and she could hardly hold him off for all his vigor, but it did make him feel better. That tended to be how things went, she always seemed to be only holding off Zoro's attacks. Sure, she took the offensive sometimes but more often Zoro was the one backing her into a corner. That stung a lot. If she were a boy she expected that they could be on completely even ground but as a girl her arms were weak and she wasn't quite there. She was good, but not as good as she could have been.

Presently, the boys were all shirtless with their pants rolled up. Nami had also taken her shirt off but she still had her underclothes so she wasn't completely topless. Sanji had been anxious of how the boys might react to that but Zoro was the only one who said anything and he only mocked her by saying that she wasn't impressing anyone and Nami had punched him for that. Sanji was still wearing her shirt with the sleeves rolled up as far as she could make them go. The binds around her chest seemed so tight that they might smother her, but she dare not remove them.

They were fallowing a river down into the south so they didn't have a lack of water to worry about, although it meant they had to see a lot of people on the road. They didn't meet any bandits or bounty hunters but every time they were passed Sanji was just waiting to be abducted and carried back to the castle kicking and screaming.

The next city they came to was built on a semi-desolate plane. Sanji knew this place because she vaguely remembered it, it was the city at the center of the kingdom of Alabasta. It was the closest kingdom to the kingdom where Sanji was born. The two kingdoms had been close both physically and politically, they were tied together by distant relatives and by present friendships. They had a princess there who was about Sanji's age and the two of them had played together as little girls. Vivi was a nice girl from what Sanji could remember and the city of Alabasta was an odd place. Recently, their Lord had died and the people had allowed Vivi to rule as their leader. Sanji expected that she must be well loved not to have been murdered by now. She had Sanji's admiration for that.

They were wandering through the streets, looking for a place to rest when Luffy had bumped into a well dressed man. Well, he didn't bump into him so much as he flung himself into him. The rubber boy had seen a cat walking along down the road, followed by a bunch of baby ducks and he tried to fling himself over to see them. Sanji had to admit it was for a good cause, the sight was adorable, and no one had been there when he launched but the man stepped into the way as flew. He wasn't a man so much as a boy in lordly clothing and he was not happy to be flung into the dirt, even though he was completely uninjured.

"You've ruined my clothes!" the boy shouted at Luffy, "My father is a knight, I'll have your fingers cut off for this, you dirty little brat! Guards!" He waved a hand to some armored men who then walked over to them, seizing Luffy. Sanji and the others were in the process of rushing over. The blond girl could see that these were not royal guards of any sort, a fact of which she was very glad. It would not be good to insult a protected member of the Lady's council or whatever position he might have held had he been guarded by official guards. These appeared to be hired body guards, thugs more like.

When the rest of their group stumbled to a halt Zoro was quick to draw his sword. "Let him go," he said menacingly. Sanji desperately wanted to roll her eyes at him but she was afraid she might ruin the effect he had on them.

"Put your sword away, rat, this one is going to answer for his crime," the boy sniffed.

Then Sanji did roll her eyes. "There is no crime here, you're just going to go home and have some poor slave wash your clothes out anyway, no harm done."

Her tone made him indignant. "I said put the sword away. Don't make me hurt you."

"I'd like to see you try," Zoro growled, stepping forward.

The boy took a nervous step back. "Guards, arrest him!" he shouted and suddenly there were men running at them. Sanji turned to Nami and made a shooing motion with her hand. The younger girl nodded, grabbing Chopper by the hood and pulling him out of harms way.

The sounds of metal on metal resonated through the air as Sanji kicked off the helm of one of the guards, threatening to shatter his jaw. This fighting drew in other men from the surrounding area. Whether they wanted to halt the fighting or they just wanted to join in Sanji didn't know but fists were flying all around her. The chaos was broken when a woman's voice rang clearly above all the noise.

"What is going on here?!" She demanded. Sanji looked up to see a lady when light blue hair pulled up into a pony tail and wearing beautifully flowing clothes as she rode atop a large duck. The image was slightly strange, but Sanji recognized her immediately as the lady Vivi riding she pet duck, Carue. Sanji remembered the pet from when she and Vivi had been acquainted as children. Hopefully she wouldn't recognize the blond girl. It had been an awfully long time since they had seen one another and Sanji didn't exactly look like herself at the moment.

"My Lady," the guards bowed and one of them led as their voice, "This little rat," he grabbed Luffy by the hair, "was being insolent so we had to punish him."

"Is that so?" The lady raised a thin brow.

"It is," the guard said stubbornly.

Vivi examined Luffy for a moment. "Well, sir, seeing as you have called for the death of people for merely looking at you wrong I'm not inclined to believe you," she said dubiously to the boy who had now come out from hiding behind one of his guards. "What really happened?" she asked Luffy.

"I bumped into him and he said I ruined his clothes," Luffy said without pause or hesitation.

Vivi nodded, "I am very sorry, I hope he hasn't done any harm." She looked to Luffy and then to his companions who stood apart from the rest of the crowd. Her eyes lingered on Sanji for a second and for a heart retching moment Sanji thought she saw recognition there, but then the eyes moved over her, onto the next face. "Come with me back to the castle," the girl smiled.

It struck Sanji as rather odd to just invite them into her castle just like that, she had a suspicion that she hadn't been quite so inconspicuous as she had hoped. But them, maybe she was just talking to Luffy. Maybe Luffy amused her somehow or the blue haired girl had taken pity in him, she always did have a soft heart if Sanji remembered correctly.

Luffy was led to a wagon following her duck. "Wait, can my friends come?" he asked her.

She nodded as Nami and Chopper emerged from the crowd in Sanji peripheral vision. All the members in Luffy's little gang jumped aboard the wagon and up toward the castle. Sanji's heart guttered along with the jolting of the wagon on the uneven road. This woman- This girl could be her undoing. She could have Sanji sent back to the royal kingdom, or held for ransom, or do any number go horrible things to her for the murder she had committed and Nami would most certainly be sent back to the castle.

The group was lead through the castle gardens and through a series of halls until they were brought into a large dining room with food set all over the table. The blue haired Lady sat at one end, Carue waddling along beside her, and motioned for them to sit as well.

"So, where are you all from?" She asked pleasantly after saying something to two servants at her side in her mother language.

"We all came from the city of Shells, except Chopper. He's from the city of Drum," Luffy told her happily. Sanji was glad he counted herself and Nami as part of 'all', saying they were from the royal city might have been a little suspicious.

"Ah, I have heard that the city of Shells has a lovely view of the sea." Lady Vivi smiled a sweet, kind smile.

"And of all the slave ships to dock there," Zoro grumbled. Sanji kicked him under the table. He jolted and glared at her menacingly, a look which she ignored.

"It is very lovely, my Lady," Sanji said quickly, although she was reluctant to draw attention to herself.

Vivi frowned, "Are you headed anywhere interesting?"

"We're drifters," said Zoro before Luffy could talk. "We don't have a destination."

"Oh, well, have you ever been in a castle before?" Not many commoners got the chance to go into a castle like this, not unless a royal died or something.

"No," Luffy exclaimed, throwing his arms up to the ceiling. "It's so big and clean!"

Vivi chuckled, "Those are two advantages of living here, unfortunately there are a lot if disadvantages too."

"Like what?"

"People are always trying to kill me and I have surrounded myself in people who tell me only what I want to hear and plot behind my back." Sanji understood and Nami would understand that, but she didn't think the others probably did. Anything political tended to be that way.

"If I was a Lord I would eat all day long," Luffy laughed.

"If you were a Lord you'd be so fat you wouldn't be able to walk," Nami told him.

Just then food was brought out, plates and plates of it. Luffy's jaw hit the floor. If there was any hint of dishonestly in anything Vivi was doing, it would have gone from Luffy's thoughts now, he was too ingaged in the food that had been brought to them. It tasted wonderful after eating only stale bred, unseasoned meats, and stolen vegetables. They ate fitfully but the food was very rich and Sanji had a feeling that it would make her sick, so she tried to slow her pace and eat easier foods on the stomach. Nami seemed to be doing the same, but Zoro, Chopper, and Luffy were not so cautious. She didn't blame them, they had been on the edge of starving for far too long.

When they were done the Lady Vivi called for some servants to come and take them to rooms. Sanji was used to servants from growing up around them, but suddenly this felt very strange after doing everything herself. When she arrived at the room she noticed there was a tub, filled with steaming water, waiting for her and fresh clothes on the bed. She tried to step back, but the servants pulled her inside. They meant to bathe her. She suspected that she would want to do the same for any boy she met who smelled like she probably did. She couldn't even seem to remember what it was like to be clean, it had been so long. Nami was always telling her off for it, but there was little opportunity to clean alone.

She tried to protest, but none of the servants spoke her language. They fought to get her out of her clothes. Three men held her down while a woman tried to cut the worn clothes off of her, there wasn't much of a loss there the clothes had been pretty ragged to begin with. She didn't have the arm strength to pull herself away and one of the men had grabbed her feet to lift them off the floor while she stayed down.

The fabric was slowly snipped away and the servants were shocked to find a female body underneath all that dirt and fabric. One of the men was sent out and came back with girl clothes as Sanji was scrubbed free of her grime by the woman, the other men were made to leave after the gender revelation had taken place. It felt good to be soaked in warm, soap scented waters. She was so filthy she made the bath water turn foggy. She could not relax though, if Lady Vivi hadn't known before she would now and there could be no predicting what could happen.

When she was dry she refused to put on the girl clothes. She fought so hard that a servant left and came back with the Lady Vivi in tow. Sanji grasped the towel tightly around herself trying to stop existing.

"So it is true," Vivi said as she stared at Sanji's very not male body. She squinted at her face. "Why would you have people think you're a boy?" she wondered.

"Because they don't take me as seriously," she said truthfully. "When they think I'm a boy I'm less likely to be harassed. You would be surprised how differently you're treated as a boy."

"But there's another girl with you," she pointed out.

"That's different," Sanji argued, "She doesn't fight with them like I do. I don't want them to think I'm weak."

Vivi gave her a sympathetic look, she must know what it was like to be under appreciated as a female ruler. "Do the others know?" she asked softly.

Sanji shook her head sadly. "Nami does, but the others don't."

"You should tell them," Vivi encouraged her, "I don't think they would mean you any harm for lying about your gender. They don't seem like terrible people. Although, it may be a little awkward at first," she laughed.

Sanji smiled slightly at that. "I just don't want them to treat me any differently than they do now. I wouldn't be able to stand it."

Vivi sighed, "Well, I won't tell them, I assure you." Her eyes narrowed. "But I must say you look terribly familiar... I noticed it when I first saw you."

Sanji shifted uncomfortably. "Um, my Lady, I don't..."

Vivi's eyes suddenly widened. "You're Sanji Black," she whispered in disbelief.

Sanji made a nervous sound, her heard felt like it was about to bust. "I don't know-"

"You killed Lord Arlong," she insisted.

"I didn't-" Sanji tried to deny.

"I haven't seen you in so long, I didn't even recognize you," she breathed. "Why did you kill that boy?" she asked looking nervous.

"I didn't-" she tried to deny but Vivi cut her off.

"There's no need to lie, from what I remember you were a good person and you seem alright now. You must have had good reason to kill him," she insisted, hoping she was not wrong.

Sanji hesitated for a moment, still reluctant, but Vivi already knew who she was so if she was going to meet any harm she was already doomed. "He was cruel and he was going to marry Nami," Sanji said stubbornly.

Vivi felt very understanding at that, she knew what it was like to be a noble girl in a kingdom. Vivi had escaped an arranged marriage because she had broken off an engagement to Prince Crocodile after her father had died and she took command. "I don't stand behind what you did, but I don't condemn you for it either. The fishmen were never friends of ours. I will keep your secret."

Sanji smiled gratefully, hoping that she could trust this girl. "Thank you, my Lady. And in my defense I didn't mean to kill him. At least not at first. He caught me training with knives and challenged me. After I defeated him he attacked me with my back turned and I accidentally kicked him too hard." She thought back to the crunching sound his ribs had made with a grimace.

Vivi frowned, "I heard he died by sword," she said.

Sanji nodded, "I did say at first. After that Nami left to get help and I killed him with my blade. He probably would have died anyway, but I wanted to be sure."

Vivi looked at her worriedly for a moment before pushing away the heaviness that had settled on their conversation. "And I'm assuming you don't want those." She gestured to the female clothes on the bed.

"Nah, but I'll take the boy clothes," she said, lifting the nicely pressed boy clothes.

Vivi frowned for a moment. "That's a shame, you would look so pretty."

"I'm just glad not to be covered in grime anymore." The cook grinned back.

Vivi turned to take the clothes away when Sanji stopped her. "Thank you, not just for this," she gestured to the clothes, "I am in your debt." She would have to return the favor one day, if she lived long enough or had the capacity to do so.

"You could stay here if you wanted," she offered, "You and Nami, I could keep you safe enough or you could work disguised as a maid, it would give us time to catch up." She gave a little smile.

Sanji shook her head, "For as long as I remember, we've wanted to explore and do things and now we have the chance, but thank you anyway."

Vivi gave her another smile, "Don't expect to avoid me after this," she warned, "I still wasn't to catch up with you. I want to hear all about what happened to the little Lady Sanji Black."

"As you wish my Lady, but while we're here call me Prince," Sanji laughed, giving a little bow.

"Prince?" She giggled, "Is that the name you've taken?"

"I thought it was fitting."

"Very well, I shall see you later, Prince." And with that Vivi swept out of the room.

Sanji was thereafter dressed in the light boy clothes provided. She was given something better to wrap her chest with and sent out into the hall to join back up with the others. She noticed some strange looks from the servants, but they did not speak her language so she tired not to let it bother her. Hopefully, they wouldn't know who she was or she might be in for a bit of ransom. She didn't think that Vivi would take her captive but her servants and Lords were another matter.

As she found her friends, Sanji was struck by how odd they all looked. They all looked a little strange without any dirt on them. Even after swimming in the river they usually came up from mucky water and Luffy had a habit of flinging mud at people. Now they all stood squeaky clean and smelling of bath soaps. Their clothes also had been replaced from dirty cloth to thin, filmy fabric, embroidered and lovely. It was rather funny actually, they almost looked like proper boys. Nami looked like a Lady again, she was wearing a light orange dress and she hair shone like the setting sun.

At her entrance they turned to her expectantly. Luffy was the first to laugh.

"Prince is clean!" Luffy said. Sanji laughed with him, none of them (aside from Nami) had ever seen her completely clean, she always refused to take baths out of fear of being seen. It felt nice not to be crawling with bugs anymore, if she was honest.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Zoro giving her a weird look. Hopefully, he wasn't noticing how feminine she looked. She had caught a glimpse of herself before she had come in and she looked much more like herself than she usually did. Luckily, the former slave didn't have time to say anything because they were rushed off to go riding with the Lady Vivi.

They were kept rather busy while staying in the castle, even when Vivi was not available to keep them intertwined. Chopper spent a lot of time conversing with doctors, Nami went to the library, Luffy did whatever it was Luffy felt like doing, Zoro trained, and Sanji helped in the kitchens.

On their second day in the castle she was on her way to said kitchens when she saw Zoro training in the yard with his swords. Their eyes met for a moment before he called out to her. "Oi, curly brow, come at me." He held his swords in a defensive position, ready for an attack.

Not wanting to shout, she walked closer. "I don't have time."

"What the hell do you have to do?"

"I'm going down to help in the kitchens."

"What, do they need help cooking unseasoned rats?"

"Shut up, I'm an amazing cook, you just can't tell because I've had literally nothing to work with and even then you can't say it was bad, because it wasn't."

"Whatever, I bet you're going to get thrown out."

"I've been going down there for the past few days and they haven't thrown me out yet. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to do help with dinner," she pushed past him.

"See ya later, shit cook," he called after her.

The words were left ringing in her ears. He was just being dumb, but it still bothered her. Why did he have to be such an asshole all the time? Didn't it ever get tiring? She was so annoyed she stayed late in the kitchens for all the meals they served, not going to dinner with her friends. She got to the point where she knew she was just being stupid for being irritated by something like this, but she couldn't help it. In order to get rid of her excess anger she decided she would make Zoro the greatest meal he'd ever eaten in his fucking life. She remembered him mentioning once that he used to eat onigiri when he lived down in the south and she actually did know how to make it. So, she did make it, she stayed in the kitchen until it was done. It was rather late when she finished and she hadn't eaten dinner yet so she stuffed some food into her face and set off to deliver her dish.

When she found Zoro's door she knocked on it twice, resisting the urge to just kick it down and shove the rice balls in his mouth. After a few moments pause, he answered the door. He looked surprised to see her standing there in his doorway, holding a plate of food.

"What?" He asked quizzically.

She shoved the plate forward and stepped into his room. "Here, eat this and see for yourself. I'm an amazing cook."

He eyed the food wearily. "I don't trust it, I think you might poison me."

"It's not poisoned, marimo, and I'm not leaving until you eat them."

He looked like he was going to resist but then he cast a longing look toward his bed and decided he was too tired to be difficult. "Fine, I'll eat your stupid food," he grumbled, lifting one of the rice balls to his mouth and taking a bite.

Sanji saw approval slide over his face at the flavor but that was soon put to a stop.

"It's just as I suspected," Zoro declared loudly, "It tasted like shit."

But it was too late for that, Sanji had a smug look on her face. "Uh-huh, I could tell by your facial expressing and the fact that you're still eating." Her grin widened as he took another bite.

"What? I'm not wasteful. If no one else is going to eat them then I'll have to suffer through them. I'm just a kind person is all."

Sanji snickered.

Zoro's brow twitched in annoyance. "What are you still doing here, get out."

"What, you can't stand to face me? Look me in the eyes and tell me how it tasted."

"No." He took another bite.

"See, you're afraid."

"I am not, you're just being creepy. Stop watching me eat, weirdo."

"Look me in the eye, shitty swordsman," she taunted.

And he did look her in the eye. He looked her in the eye, lifted a hand, placed it in the center of her chest and shoved her right out the door. She stumbled backward into the hall, where she landed in her butt and the door slammed in her face. She blinked for a second, then lifted a hand to her chest indignantly. He breasts were rather small and tightly bound, it was highly improbably that he had felt anything. He probably hadn't, but she was still a little paranoid so she watched him closely at breakfast. He was pretending like nothing had happened, which was a good sign, and if he was going to go on acting like that then she wasn't about to object.

XxxX

They spent four days in the castle. Four wonderful days of catching up with lady Vivi, it was so good to talk to her again. She had gone from a soft spoken, shy little girl to a well rounded ruler. And Sanji had nearly forgotten what it was like to be clean and well fed, it almost made her miss home but soon enough Luffy got bored and decided it was time for them to move on. Vivi waved them off with a heavy heart and a large number of supplies, inclining a horse for Chopper and for Nami, who had been riding with Sanji for most of the time.

Seven days later they were literally in the middle of nowhere. Although they followed a river with fertile silt deposits no one ever dared settle in this area for fear of bandits, they moved in bands through the desert. Farther from the heart of the sand waste there were many farms and cities but out here there was nothing. Just a thin strip of green that faded into dry, desolate sand. The sun beat down on them and Sanji's skin was pealing from sunburns, which Chopper was quick to treat but they still stung. They all had to wear thin fabric over their skin to keep from exposure but it only made them hotter. The horses were slower in the heat as well and Sanji was worried for their health. Chopper was feeling the heat nearly as bad as them, with all his fur. The poor boy had to ride on horse back all the time so as not to strain himself. It was rough but according to the map they were nearly in the middle of this wasteland.

They tried not to journey during the day. For the majority if their journey from Alabasta they had traveled at night and slept in tents given to them by Lady Vivi by day. It was much easier that way. They only walked during the day when they heard bandits nearby like they had the night before. Chopper, Nami, and Luffy both slept on their tired horses but Sanji and Zoro pressed on awake, exhausted but they had to keep moving if they didn't want any trouble. They had stopped for the a moment along the river side when Zoro had the amazing idea to go hunting. They still had some food to spare but anything they could find would do them good and they hadn't heard anything from any bandits all day.

Thus, Zoro and Sanji had gone out together to try and hunt down some of the bison roaming the area with arrows. Sanji wasn't convinced they would be able to do it, those things were so big but they were going to try and if they found something better on the way then so be it.

Sanji felt nervous about leaving the little boys and Nami but if they were captured Luffy could defend them well enough. Someone had to watch the horses and Chopper was better off just sleeping through the heat of the day. Sometimes Sanji felt like they were her little children but then she would shake her head and tell herself that she was just being a stupid girl.

They were following a ram when Zoro heard the tread of horse hoofs soft in the sand. There were seven horses coming toward them, kicking up dust as they rode. From the look of them they were bandits. Fuck, that was not good. The two travelers had no horse to outrun them so the odds were not good and the chances that they hadn't been seen were slim to none on this flat plane but they ran for shelter none the less. As they ran Sanji dodged behind a rocky ridge and dragged Zoro with her. She looked around frantically but there was nowhere to go. At least this way they could die backed into a corner and face to face with the enemies, not run down like a terrified animal. There was little dignity in that.

It was not long before the riders were upon them, circling the rock they hid behind. Zoro fired a few arrows off but only one met it's mark and then it was only in the arm of one of the riders. They were defiantly bandits, as was evident by their clothes, that wasn't good, they would either be taken as slaves or killed and looted.

They stood to make a stand, not that it did them much good. The horsemen, as they were only men, circled around them. Their apparent leader barked something down at them in a language neither of them could speak. One of the riders dismounted and approach them, axe in one hand and chain in the other. Apparently, they were to be taken as slaves. Just great. And to think Zoro had only just escaped slavery.

Sanji felt a stir of panic, they couldn't fight them all back like this. Two of the men had bows strung and pointed at their heads. When if they took down a few men then they would be taken down by those who remained. Now they were being given a chance to surrender and save their heads.

Sanji elbowed Zoro roughly. "Put down that bow, idiot." she hissed at him.

"You want to surrender and be taken captive?" he asked in shock.

"No, but the choice is to go with them or loose our heads," she spat back. After a pause Zoro reluctantly threw his bow to the ground as Sanji did her knives. Zoro had not taken his katanas with him, he had not thought they would come to combat but Sanji had brought her knives in case they needed to skin the animal they shot. As they picked the weapons up off the ground she expected that she would never see her daggers again. That was rather depressing.

The two of them were bound by the hands and had to run behind the horses. If they fell they were dragged until they could get back up. Thank the gods that the journey was not long by the end of it Sanji's legs burned and her mouth tasted like sand.

They soon came upon a moderately sized shanty town filled with bandits. Sanji imagined that for the bandits this must be their equivalent of a city. The captives were dragged through the town filled with dirty slaves, crying children, and angry looking men until they were brought into a tent where a large muscular man with slick black hair sat glaring down at them. He snapped something in the rough desert language and a scrawny boy came scurrying out of the corner to meet them.

"D-do you speak the common language?" he asked nervously, glancing back at the man. He was a boy of about thirteen, a black 'X' marked his neck against his dark skin, his black hair was messy, and his most distinguishing feature was his very odd and very long nose. He stood shaking in the knees before them.

"Yes," Sanji answered for them. She always seemed to be doing the talking.

"Good," he said unsteady, "You have been taken in by Lord Kuro, the Lord of the desert himself, you will be marked and serve him until the day of your death," he said in practiced words, his accent was even less pronounced than Zoro's.

Sanji had never heard of this Lord of the desert, the real cities never bothered with little men like this who thought themselves Lords unless they went to attack a kingdom. Although, her heart sunk at the boy's words even if she had expected them. If they were to be marked they must find a way of escape fast, they had only about two and a half days before the magic would be ready. That was the tricky think about the slaver's mark, it took time to make and could only be started once the intended person was present. Powerful magic like this always took time.

"What until then?" Sanji asked in a dull tone.

"You will be chained at the stake and you will not receive any aid until the magic is done. You will do any mundane tasks asked of you."

Well, wasn't that just wonderful. No doubt they would also be harassed by the towns people too, if they could be called that in this place that was hardly a town. She expected that they would probably throw spoiled food at them or some to physically damage them, that seemed to always be what happened when someone was put in the stocks after all.

Zoro tried to say something but Sanji kicked him lightly before he could do anything too stupid. Out of the corner of her eye, Sanji saw the boy nod and two of the men who had captured them moved forward. The one who approached her grabbed the back of her shirt and jerked it up, meaning for it to go over her head but she grabbed it instead. The other man had done the same for Zoro but had managed to get it halfway over his head as the swordsman cursed him, flailing at the loss of his sight.

"Want are they doing?" she asked in panic as she saw Zoro staring at her, now with the shirt safely over his head. She knew what was happening, they would be derobed and searched for any concealed weapons.

The boy looked at her in confusion as she fought to keep her clothes against the man's pulling and shaking. "They mean to give your clothes to someone who needs it more. It is difficult for find light clothes of good quality out here. Don't worry, they'll leave your under clothes," he promised as the man ripped the shirt over her head, exposing her bound chest.

Sanji had never felt more exposed in her life. This was bad. Very very very very bad. She heard Zoro suck in a shocked breath. She didn't want to look at him but her eyes betrayed her and she glared at his shocked face for a moment before looking around at the others in the tent. The man who appeared to be in charge, Lord Kuro, laughed cruelly as he said something to the other men to make them laugh as well. Then her binds were cut free with a dagger that tore into the top layer of her smooth skin. She fought to keep the fabric in place but her arm was twisted so hard that she was afraid it might break and the cloth fell to the floor leaving her well exposed to the men in the tent.

She wanted to cry, her eyes burned with rage and with shame but she refused to let the tears fall like a little girl. Her arm was released and she quickly covered herself as the men leered at her. She didn't think she could stomach facing Zoro now.

The boy with the long nose cleared his throat and addressed her, his eyes on the ground. "The Lord says he may have a use for you yet," his voice wavered with tension. "You will be taken to him later but until then you will go with your companion to the stake." At least he looked scared for her. She was terrified.

She was tossed back her shirt, which she quickly pulled on. Apparently, the boss liked his goods untarnished before he threw them to the rest of his horde. Is she was sent out in a state of undress she might attract other unwelcome individuals to take the prize first. Thereafter, they were dragged out to the stake through throngs of dusty desert people at the bend of the river.

They were the only ones chained at the stake, a large pillar of wood sticking up like a tree without branches, the chains were latched around it rather closely. It was in the center of the shanty town under the watch of all the people, slave and citizen alike. The two of them were tied and then they were left. No one yet approached them, although their eyes clung to them.

Zoro stood as the men left but Sanji sank to the ground, head in hands and her back against the pillar. She would not cry, she wouldn't. There was a long period of tense silence and Sanji dreaded Zoro's coming words.

"You're a girl," Zoro finally stated. She had never heard a more obvious statement.

"Shut the fuck up," she grumbled pathetically.

She heard him sit down beside her. "That makes a lot of sense actually..." he trailed off, thinking back to every odd thing she had done, "You've seen me naked. That's pretty awkward," he sighed.

She looked up to glare at him of course of all things that was what he would focus on. "And you've seen my boobs, so we're almost even there."

Zoro looked at her evenly. "Why the hell didn't you tell us? We wouldn't have done anything to you."

"I know, I just-" she broke off, "As a girl no one takes you seriously. As a boy at least I can stand with the other boys. I didn't want to be treated any differently. You wouldn't understand," she dug her feet under the hot sand to the cooler sand beneath to distract herself from this conversation.

"We don't to that with Nami," he said exasperatedly.

"That different, you don't fight with Nami like you do with me. I didn't want to pointed out as the weaker one," she glared at the shifting sand over her feet.

"You aren't weak," Zoro said solidly, "And I can't speak for the others but I will still kick your ass even though you don't have testicles, that's for sure." He shrugged.

Sanji laughed at that although it came out broken. "I appreciate that."

"I knew something was off about you," he said, "I just didn't know what." That was true enough, she had seen him giving her sideways looks from time to time. She believed that he knew something was weird about her.

"I know, I was afraid you might figure it out yourself," she confessed.

"You do have a pretty girly face." He squinted at her, "but it's hard to tell when you're all covered in mud."

"That was the point, idiot," she said weakly.

He was quite for a moment before something seemed to occur to him. "You must have a girls name then. What is it?" he wondered.

She couldn't tell him that, not here. She felt that she could trust him with her name but maybe when they weren't surrounded by enemies.

"I'll tell you if we get out of here," she said and she was suddenly hit by the severity of the situation. For a second she thought she might be sick but she struggled to retain her composer. "We have to get out of here," she whimpered.

"We'll get out," Zoro promised, clapping a hand on her shoulder and jostling her in a friendly way. He said it in a way that for a second Sanji almost believed him.

XxxX

A/N: The olden times sucked, seriously. Poor Sanji, I would be balling like a little baby in this situation.

I'm sorry for making poor Zoro dyslexic, I couldn't help it he just seems the type. But hey, dyslexia isn't so bad. Even I figured it out eventually. Although I did write 'get' as 'git' up until eighth grade -_-


	6. Can't Keep Johnny Down

I'm told I should add a trigger warning so yeah, you've been warned.

XxxX

Outnumbered a million to one  
All of the dicks in this dick town  
Can't keep Johnny down  
Men piled up in a towering mound  
None of them once has found a way  
To keep Johnny down

-"Can't Keep Johnny Down" They Might Be Giants

XxxX

Before the turn of an hour the scrawny slave boy from before came to the prisoners with animals skins that needed stitching. Sanji felt like she was being mocked have been brought such a traditionally feminine task to do but it was probably just a coincidence. The boy sat near them to help but out of their range if they tried to attack him. Sanji felt bad for him, for anyone who was a slave to bandits. That was a hard life, especially for one who seemed as frightened as him. She supposed that if they didn't get out of there it would be her life as well, but worse because she hand something they wanted.

"What's you name?" she asked the boy, trying to push aside her worries in favor of conversation. Anything to distract herself.

"Usopp," the boy replied timidly, his eyes on the ground. Sanji wasn't sure if it was because he was shy or because he had seen her chest not an hour ago.

She smiled weakly at him. "That's Zoro," she pointed to Zoro as he struggled to sew in a straight line. "He's stupid, so he doesn't talk much." Zoro threw her a dirty look but said nothing, proving her point. "And you can call me Prince."

"Prince?" He seemed confused at the title for a name. "That's not a real name."

"No," Sanji sighed, "but it's served me well enough. How did you become a slave here?"

Usopp's voice took on the quality of a story teller's, "I was only a boy of four when I sailed across the sea to this land. I had been a child of wolves but one day the men came and we went to war with them, I had defeated nearly all my enemies when reinforcements came and I was overwhelmed."

"So, you grew up on one of the islands and slavers kidnapped you," Sanji deciphered. This boy appeared to be a bit of a liar. She wondered if he lied when he was translating. To be fair he might have to, she expected that they probably said some pretty rude things that he probably cut from his translations.

The boy's pride deflated slightly. "Well, how did you get here all dressed like a boy?"

"It's safer to travel that way," Sanji shrugged.

"Why are you traveling?"

"Because I killed a bad little boy back home," she grinned wolfishly as the boy gulped. "Don't worry," she told him, "he deserved it."

"Where you both headed?"

"To the city One Piece," Sanji said quietly. It wasn't like it was a thing to hide, it was strange, sure, but lots of idiots tried to get the the ancient city. And the way things were looking she wasn't going to get there any time soon anyway.

Usopp paled, "What would you go there for?"

"For the thrill," she lied. She wasn't about to tell him about Luffy and the others. They would send out another search party and capture them as well.

"Why do you travel with him?" Usopp nodded toward Zoro, who had just stuck himself with the needled and was sucking at the little bead of blood that broke the surface of his skin.

"Because he's such good company," she said sarcastically.

"Is he your husband?" Usopp asked.

Sanji balked at that for a second before she started laughing. "I would never marry this idiot," she told the boy.

Zoro was glaring at her again. "And I would never marry you either, you didn't trust us enough to say that you were a girl," he spat. Sanji noticed him say the word 'us' and she hoped that Usopp did not notice or thought that maybe it was just a mistake in his language.

"Hey, maybe now that you know I'm a girl you'll fall deeply in love with me," she grinned at him.

"Yeah, right, then we can ride off Ito the sunset and live happily ever after," he snorted.

"I'd gladly ride off into the sunset with you if it meant we could ditch this place."

"Is it weird traveling disguised as a boy?" Usopp wondered.

"It's not so bad," Sanji told him, "It's not so bad as traveling as a girl. Then you have to be double wary because you'll get into situations like this one." She tugged lightly at the chain.

"We could have watched your back," Zoro said irritably.

"Can you blame me for not wanting to take that chance?" she asked, "I mean look at me, I'm gorgeous, you'd never be able to resist my charms if I was in full fledged girl mode." She gestured to herself.

Zoro looked her up and down as if to inspect the validity of her claim. "You look like a dirty little girl," he concluded, "Still half a boy."

"I looked prettier when my hair was long," she told him with a flick of her short dirty hair.

"Then keep your hair short and your face covered in mud and you have nothing to worry about."

She sat back and sighed as she stabbed at the hide with the bone needle, "Lot of good that does me now," she mumbled.

They spent the rest of the day talking with Usopp and doing the chores brought to them. Zoro even joined the conversation for a time. In the back of her mind Sanji was still terrified at the events to come and she saw some of the men in the camp leering at her, but they did not come near. Usopp still looked nervous about them as well, he said that their leader had been taking too much wealth recently and people were not so happy with him. It would not be surprising if one of them committed some sort of rebellious act like taking her, they were only thinly held together as it was. She was glad to see that he also appeared to worry that one of them would come to take her, he didn't seem like he belonged in this place. Fortunately, none of the townspeople ever got close enough to do anything. There was one that had walked up to talk to them as he leered at Sanji, Usopp had warned him off though. He left glaring at them.

When night came they were given no food and Usopp left them. Sanji sat back against the stake with Zoro at her side, almost close enough to touch. They had been given time to sleep, but despite the fact that she had been awake for an entire day she could find no sleep and if she couldn't sleep she wasn't going to let Zoro sleep either.

"They'll be coming for me soon," she sighed, sifting warm sand through her fingers.

"Best not to struggle, that will only make it worse," he said through gritted teeth, he looked more angry then afraid. Sanji wished she could be angry, but she only felt like a frightened little girl without her disguise to hide what she really was from this cruel world she lived in.

"I'm not going to make it easy for them," she didn't think she physically could restrain herself if she was being attacked.

"I wouldn't either," he said before looking over at her, his expression even. "You are strong, remember that, no matter what they do."

The words were soft and strong. Sanji was touched by the effort, grateful for any kind of comfort while it lasted. She smiled at him. "What, are you going to be all nice to me now that I'm a girl?" she teased.

He glared. "Are you going to make fun of me every time I do something nice? I would have said the same thing if you were a boy."

Sanji thought for a moment. "I think I will tease you quite a bit," she decided. The notion amused her and no doubt it would make Zoro uncomfortable since he had operated under the impression she was a boy, just another thing to her advantage.

"Great, I can't wait for that," he rolled his eyes. "So, you are going to tell the others about this when we get back, right?"

"You shouldn't talk about them right now," she warned sharply, "but yes, I'll tell them."

"Good, I would tell them if you didn't."

Sanji gave him a mocking look of disapproval. "I'm pretty sure you're supposed to respect a Lady's wishes."

"Well, you're not really a Lady so fuck that."

"You say that, but I do have all the proper parts," she smirked.

"You may have the proper parts, but not the mindset."

"Whatever, I'm still awesome."

"No, you aren't. You weren't before and you aren't now."

"Yes, I am." She grinned, but then there was a pause and the grin slid from her face and the fear began to bubble up again. "I need something to distract myself from the all the shit that's happening and this conversation isn't helping. Distract me," she told him.

He made a face. "What the fuck am I supposed to do?"

"We could practice your reading," she said offered. He hadn't done any reading yet today.

Zoro groaned, "I suck at reading. You should just give up on me."

"Shut up and stop being a baby about it," she scolded.

They practiced Zoro's letter drawing in the sand and it did help to get her mind off the situation for a while. But they came to fetch for her not long after. A group of men started to approach them, their intention was clear as they walked straight toward them, using torches to light their way and Zoro pointed them out while they were still a ways off down one of the little roads that was more of a pathway.

Sanji felt her stomach filling with cold dread. She was doomed, there was no way of getting out of this. She looked to Zoro, his face was drawn as he watched her. Why did it have to be him to see her go through this? She didn't want to look weak to him, they fought as equals, or they had, she didn't know if they would now.

In a moment of madness Sanji touched his face and kissed him before he could pull away from her. It was quick and clumsy but then Sanji had never kissed a boy before, so she didn't really know what it was supposed to be like. When she pulled back Zoro jerked away from her with an expression that was so funny even now she let out a nervous string of laughter. Did he have to look so traumatized?

"What the fuck was that?" he spluttered.

Sanji shrugged, "I didn't want my first kiss to be while I was raped, don't read into it too much."

"Why couldn't you have kissed Usopp while he was here?" Zoro complained.

"Because he's little and I wasn't thinking about it until now. Gods, I didn't know being kissed by a girl was so insulting," she snickered.

"I thought you were a boy for all the time I've known you, it was more like kissing a boy," Zoro said wrinkling his nose.

"For all I know you could be into that sort of thing," she grinned impishly as he sputtered. Sanji would have loved to tease him more, but the men were close to them now, so she stood and moved farther away from them. Zoro stood as well, inserting himself between them while staying close to her. At least he would still help her, even though she did feel indignant about being defended by him. Any little thing would help, she consoled herself.

When they tried to approach Zoro struck out in defense, which was of little use when the knives came out. Even then it was difficult for them to be taken. The two of them managed to fight them off for an extraordinary period of time before one of them managed to catch Sanji's leg with the tail of a whip and drag her far enough to switch her chain while Zoro was dealing with some guy wielding a battle axe. Sanji hoped the made would make a mistake and cut Zoro free with his stupid axe, but apparently luck was not in her side.

Zoro was swearing at them, but she wasn't sure what language it was in because everything suddenly felt like it was underwater. She made a show of trying to escape but she did not get far with that chain they had wrapped around her arms. One of the men tried to lift her but carrying her was even more difficult than dragging her so they dragged her to their leader's tent. She was shoved inside and onto the floor. Her breath was coming fast and she could feel the tears in her eyes. Usopp was there at the man's side, his eyes wide and sad.

One of the men who had dragged her inside and bound her to a stake in the ground, then barked something at the Lord in the chair. Lord Kuro smirked down at her and stood from his chair. She kept her facial expression blank as he moved forward, Sanji's was not moving back but standing her ground because she knew there was nowhere for her to retreat. Kuro grumbled something and Sanji was distantly aware of Usopp running from the tent. Good, he seemed like a nice kid, she didn't want him to see this.

The bandit Lord stood taller than her by a number of inches and he looked down on her over the bridge of his nose. He said something that must have been somehow horrible and demeaning to her because the other men in the room began to laugh. She could hardly see now from the tears, but she would not allow them to fall.

He moved a hand toward her and she moved a step back. The act seemed to amuse him, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her forward, so she knocked his legs out from under him. He lay sprawled on his back, gasping for air. She lifted her foot to break his ribs or maybe crush his testicles, but by then the other men were upon her. With her restraints and four armed men against her she didn't have much weight in a fight, but she struggled anyway. She ended up held by her arms by a man behind her, keeping her upright. When she tried to kick him away another man grabbed her left hand and bent her pinky finger so far she was afraid it would break. She didn't struggled then.

Kuro had picked himself up and was glaring at her. He spat some harsh words and punched her in the stomach hard enough to make her gag with pain. She tried to double over but he grabbed her face and made her look at him. That horrible, cruel face. Before he had his mouth on hers and bit her lip hard. She tried to cry out in pain but he stuck his tongue into her mouth to stop the sound as he slid a hand up her shirt.

She was suddenly very glad that she had kissed Zoro even if he was stupid, it gave her a frame of reference. When she had kissed the marimo it had made her want to laugh, this made her want to cry and stab the bastard doing it.

She bit down as hard as she could until she tasted blood. Kuro let out a cry of pain and drew back, the hand under her shirt squeezing her skin so tightly she thought it might tear away from her bones. A sob broke free of her throat and the tears were like a torrential downpour. Rain in the middle of the desert, she thought absurdly. He struck her across the face and grabbed a knife from a belt, cutting her shirt in two up the center when Usopp came running back inside with three more men. They started talking rapidly the words matched the anger in the faces if those she say, although the meanings were lost on Sanji as she tried to stifle her sobs. She watched the rage grow on the leader's face as he shouted something back at them. This started off the screaming match that soon had every member of the tent's inhabitants involved save Usopp and Sanji who just wanted to be gone.

Sanji had been dumped onto the floor, sobbing like a child.

Soon enough a fight had broken out. Sanji drew herself back into the corner of the tent as she was forgotten, trying to keep herself quiet. She saw Usopp staring at her, she though he probably wanted to let her out of her binds, but the slave's mark on his neck was stopping him from doing so. Her chain had been driven deep into the ground with a hammered spike. She started pulling at it as subtly as she could, shying away from the clash of iron around her.

There was a loud scream and suddenly Usopp was at her side, sliding a key into the lock on her chains. She knew that that meant. Both of them had been released with the death of Lord Kuro and so they ran before they could be missed, Sanji grabbing a knife as she passed it laying abandoned on the ground, but was in too much of a rush to grab a proper shirt.

The Lord of bandits was dead, killed by what Sanji assumed were his own men. She would have to ask Usopp about it later. Around them the town was bursting with angry people. Fights around every turn, at every tent. People around then were during.

The two of them ran through the chaos to the spike where Zoro sat meditating. As they approached his eyes opened, he was surprised to see them after so short a time. His eyes looked Sanji up and down, inspecting her for damage. She had been splattered with a bit of blood from the fighting, her face was red and puffy from crying, her mouth smeared with blood from where she had bitten the Lord and where her own lip bled, her shirt was in tatters, and there was an angry handprint just under her right breast already bruising over.

"Are you-?" he didn't finish, there would be time for explanations later.

"Shut up, we have to go. I'm fine," she told him as Usopp started to unlock him. She wasn't fine and her voice trembled when she spoke but she was in better shape than she would have ever hoped. Zoro was unbound quickly and they ran to where the horses were kept.

Usopp only managed to coax out one horse before they were rushed by an angry horse keeper. They didn't have time to get another. Sanji had killed the horse keeper with the knife but others were rushing toward the building. They would have to make this one horse work. Zoro hopped on the animal, followed by Sanji and then by Usopp. They were all slight enough that they had room to stay on but it was a tight fit and she was sure the horse didn't appreciate having three riders.

Zoro flicked at the reins and they were off into the night, leaving the camp far behind them. Usopp and Sanji both had to hold on tightly and hope they wouldn't fall. Sanji wished she would have jumped on first partially because she didn't like the idea of Zoro steering this horse around and partially because without her binds she knew her chest was pressed against his back, which she found incredibly awkward. It was even more awkward because her shirt was torn open, so she had to hold it shut with one hand so that her bare boobs weren't pressed against him. She tried to lead back as much as possible. Usopp had wanted to give her a shirt but he didn't have one to give and neither did Zoro so she had more make due.

"Usopp," Sanji said as they were galloping away from the town. "What happened?"

"Some of the men were not happy that the Lord was going to take an eastern girl, they said that she should be killed for the blood gods. They said that if he touched her the god sky god would send away the rains" Usopp said. The blood gods were a series of five gods from one of the desert religions, all were assigned different godly tasks but all required blood sacrifices. Sanji didn't know much about the religion, aside from its barbarity but she did know that the desert killed easterners in order to bring the rains. The east did receive a lot of rain but she doubted that her blood would please a god she knew not to exist. In some way though, she was glad that someone had stood at her defense, even if they wanted her blood instead of her body.

"Thank the gods for crazy religious weirdos," Sanji snorted. "You don't follow the blood gods, do you Usopp?"

"No," he told her, "I was raised to believe in the gods of old." The gods of old were four great and galant gods who were just and only sent punishment when it was needed. Sanji didn't think that sounded so bad to her, although she didn't know what she could have done to have these gods against her so often.

"In East Blue the religion is of the three," she said. The god of the sky, the god of the ground, and the god of the sea. "But the religion in the royal city only had one god." That was the religion called The Everything. Sanji had been raised with both but believed neither but she founds the texts of the three more interesting.

"You're from East Blue?" Zoro guessed. She had mentioned the place enough for it to be plausible.

Sanji made a face. "It's were I was born, but I was mostly raised in the royal city." She shrugged.

He looked back at her with narrowed eyes but did not press her for answers. "In the south they worship war gods from stories," he said instead. They believed that the spirit of the war gods went into great warriors to bring them victories and when the gods grew bored of them they were killed. Sanji kind if liked the idea of that. She hoped that she was possessed by one of those war gods, then again those possessed by a war god ended up dieing pretty horribly, so maybe not.

They talked of silly religions a while longer then they lapsed into silence and rode quietly for a time through the warm, dark night. Every so often Sanji would direct them so as not to lose their course because they always seemed to do that when Zoro was steering. Usopp had fallen asleep against Sanji's back, although she was unsure how, it was hardly a comfortable position to be in, and she had to hold his arms to keep him upright.

Zoro was was giving the horse a rest for a moment and only trotting along when he spoke softly. "So, what happened?"

Sanji sighed. She was so tired. She couldn't remember the last time she had actually slept, it must have been at least twenty four hours ago, if not more. She could barely keep her eyes open now. "Not as much as I expected," she told him. "I was barely touched, it was nothing."

"It doesn't look like nothing." His voice felt oddly distant.

"Sure, I'm a little traumatized, but it's better than what I was expecting. At least I still have my maidenhood in tact."

Zoro seemed unhappy with her answer but didn't say anything, so Sanji spoke instead. "I'm glad I kissed you," she told him, "If I hadn't I probably wouldn't want to kiss anyone ever again. So, thanks for that."

Zoro shifted uncomfortably, "You're welcome, I guess. Just don't do it again."

She laughed, "Yeah, I don't think you have to worry about me sexually harassing you anytime soon. I learned the hard way that it's not so fun to be harassed," she joked but the jest came out flat and humorless.

Something seemed to occur to the swordsman suddenly. "So, what is your name then?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder at her.

She was startled for a moment, not having expected him to say anything more but she sighed and decided that she should probably give him the truth of it. She trusted him enough for it. "It's Sanji," she told him.

She saw his face pinch in confusion as if he recognized the name, which he should because she had mentioned it from her bounty. "Sanji," he said, rolling the name over on his tongue. It sounded weird coming from his mouth, she didn't know how to feel about it. Then the realization struck him and he turned to face her more fully. "Sanji, as in Sanji of house Black, of East Blue?" He asked wide eyed.

She smiled ruefully and sighed, "The same." She was actually surprised that he knew her title.

"You're like a princess," he said in shock, "You don't act like a princess, that's for sure."

She snorted, "I'll take that as a complement."

"You grew up in a castle then, with lots of slaves and servants?"

"Yes."

"Why did you leave?"

"I was engaged to a psychopath, I killed a Lord, and I kidnapped Nami apparently," she shrugged, "Do I seem like I belong there? I have all the Lady stuff down but the ability to hold my tongue and my temper. I wasn't fit for that life."

"No, I don't suppose you were." Zoro laughed, "Don't expect me to go easy on you just because you're highborn."

Sanji grinned, the tension reopening the cut scabbed skin on her lip. "Don't expect to ever see my breasts again." She would have to make sure and stay covered up when they dismounted.

Zoro choked at that, "As if I would want to, there's like nothing there!"

"I'm shocked and appalled that you didn't immediately turn your face away to protect my dignity, pervert," she grinned.

"I'm a pervert? You're the one who hung around two naked guys without telling us you were a girl. You're a bigger pervert than I am, pervert."

"But you admit to staring at me?" she pressed.

Zoro scoffed, "I admit that I was too shocked to move. So, if you're a Princess then what is the Prince of the realm like?" he asked curiously.

Sanji scowled, "He's a creep is what he is. He groped me in the middle of an empty hallway once and threatened me when I was shocked and insulted by it."

"Being a girl sounds pretty shitty. Everyone wants to get up all in your guts," Zoro decided.

"That is partially ran away. Seriously, it's the worst. Being a boy is so much easier and their are so many more opportunities aside from get married and have babies." Sanji wrinkled her nose at the idea.

"I can't even imagine you doing that." He simply could not summon forth an accurate image of that in his head.

"It would probably be easier if you had ever seen me playing the part of Lady Sanji Black. I was a proper Lady after all."

"Then why aren't you married?"

"Because I'm still a girl, not a woman. By this point I don't think they thought I would hit puberty at all and they wouldn't want their son to marry a girl who couldn't bare him children." Although, if she had married him they could have staged an accident for her and there would be another tragically dead wife to the Prince. Thankfully, that hadn't the case.

"You haven't hit puberty yet? How old are you?" he scoffed.

"I have sixteen years," Sanji said proudly, "I hope that I never can have kids so that I never have to marry."

"As if you could find a willing man to marry you in the first place," Zoro snickered.

"Hey, I am super attractive... When I'm not covered in dirt and covered in fleas," she admitted.

"Right. So, you'll tell Luffy all this stuff when we get back, right?"

She sighed, "Yeah, I guess I should, but I liked being a boy while it lasted."

"Being a girl with us should be just as good and we can make sure no one finds out if you get backed into a corner."

Sanji smiled. "It might even be nicer if you boys don't go running around with nothing on around me so much."

"I wouldn't expect so much of Luffy," he laughed. "So, how did you come to fight with knives? There's no way that's a lesson every Lady learns."

Sanji thought back to her time in the castle. "The head chef used to be a knight before he lost his leg. Whenever I was in the kitchens with him he would always be hard on me, he made all the other girls cry and he wasn't nearly so hard on them but I never let him get to me. I had him train me in how to fight like he did."

"Did he had that same strange style you do?"

"Mine is a little different, I'm much smaller and bare less weight than he does, so I make up for it in speed," she grinned.

"It's good that you had that or you might have ended up a stupid brat who couldn't defend herself."

"It wasn't all bad in the castle. Nami is still like a sister to me and Robin, the Lady who looked after me, was like a mother. I killed the Lord for Nami, so she wouldn't have to marry him," she explained.

"I had a sister once," Zoro said distantly, "She was kind of like you. She beat me up all the time. She was older than me and better with a sword but she knew that one day I would be better because I'm a boy." Sanji could imagine the anger in that. "She seemed more resigned to that fate than you do." He looked at her again. Kuina had been a cold fire, low blue flames, more steady in motive. Sanji burned angry red as bright and as unstable as a dying star.

"What happened to her?" Sanji asked, her head was drooping forward with the weight of sleep but she shook herself to keep awake, she didn't want Zoro to get them lost.

"Kuina died when I was eight. She was thrown from a horse and her neck snapped." She was there and then she was gone, just like that. "I took up her sword and decided I would become the best for her.

"She left her mark," Sanji yawned, "the way it sounds, she helped make you who you are. I'm sure she would be glad for that."

"Maybe."

"Not maybe; yes. Don't sell yourself short, dumbass, it's unbecoming."

"And I would never want to appear unbecoming in front of a Lady." She could tell he was rolling his eyes even though she couldn't see his face.

"No, you wouldn't, especially when she can kick your ass. How's it feel to know that you've been getting beat up by a girl?"

"You haven't been beating me up, fist of all, and second, I would feel exactly the same against a boy."

"You say that now, but I don't believe you. You're going to have to prove it."

"I will."

"Good, I'll be waiting."

"You better fucking prepare yourself."

"I'm always prepared."

After that a silence lingered over them for the rest if the trip, as Sanji fought against the pull of sleep.

XxxX

A/N: I love how sudden Kuina's death is. She gets snuffed out like a candle.

Can you ride three to a horse? I saw a picture of three people on a horse but it looked like a tight fit.

I really didn't want Sanji to be... harmed, so I had to do a bit of finagling to get them out in time when I think she probably in reality would have been taken at the start. But I wasn't about to let that happen ^^

Thanks.


	7. I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor

I wish you'd stop ignoring me  
Because you're sending me to despair  
Without a sound yeah you're calling me  
And I don't think it's very fair  
That your shoulders are frozen (cold as the night)  
Oh but you're an explosion (you're dynamite)  
Your name isn't Rio, but I don't care for sand  
Lighting the fuse might result in a bang, with a bang-go!

-"I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor" Arctic Monkeys

XxxX

They made it back to the spot where they had left Nami, Chopper, and Luffy. They were still where they had been left, all awake because of the messed up sleep schedule they had been running on. Although, they had been worried for the safety of their two missing members. If they were not back my morning the three of them would have gone out in search of them.

"Where have you guys been?" exclaimed Nami when the horse came into range of her voice.

"Who's that?" asked Luffy, pointing to the ex-bandit slave.

The horse was set to a stop and Usopp jumped down from the horse in an uncoordinated manner. "I'm Usopp," he greeted them, his chest puffed in false bravery. "I saved this maiden and knight from the bandit Lord's camp." he proclaimed. Although Zoro wasn't a knight and two of them didn't know Sanji was a maiden.

The boys looked to Zoro and Sanji in confusion while Nami's eyes widened slightly. Sanji sighed, dismounting, careful to pull her shirt close to her and preparing to tell them what she had told Zoro.

"Usopp rescued us from some bandits," she confirmed, crossing her arms across her chest self consciously, as she could see the two little boys and Nami staring. The evidence was only slight but it was still obvious. "And I suppose I should say that I was actually a girl all this time," she admitted awkwardly.

Luffy blinked at her, "Why wouldn't you tell us."

"He- uh, she was afraid we might treat her like a girl," said Zoro, hopping down of the horse. "I already told her that it wasn't likely to happen."

"We wouldn't do that," Luffy said looking wounded.

Sanji shrugged apologetically, she still couldn't exactly say she regretted her choices up to this point. Aside from going out and getting caught by bandits that morning.

"What's your name then?" asked Luffy.

"Sanji," she said.

"Lady Sanji of the house Black," Zoro said in a grandiose tone and a mocking bow.

Sanji glared and kicked him in the knee but did not deny the words.

Luffy was grinning, "You're a Princess!? What's the royal castle like?" He asked eagerly.

Sanji put her hands on her hips and stuck her nose in the air like a proper Princess, "It is a lovely place with lots of wonderfully flashy people that spend all day whispering secrets and making you follow lots of rules."

"That doesn't sound fun at all," Luffy said.

Sanji shook her head, "It wasn't, so I left."

"You also killed a boy," Zoro added helpfully.

"Yeah, but I wanted to leave before that anyway," she sighed, killing Arlong was only an excuse to leave. "But I couldn't let Nami marry such a horrible boy," she pouted.

"Is Nami a princess too?" Chopper asked.

"No," Nami said, "I was just a ward, not that important. We can't all be engaged to a Pince."

Sanji made a face at her, but decided to ignore that last comment. "You guys can't tell anyone who I am or that I'm a girl," she clarified to the boys.

Luffy saluted her saying, "I will defend your secret with my life." The other two promised as well, but not quite so eccentrically.

There was the sound of tearing cloth and Zoro handed over a torn strip of cloth and a shirt. "You're going to want something to cover yourself with or it won't matter if we keep your secret or not."

Sanji flushed slightly, having almost forgotten she was almost naked, and took the cloth. She was walking away with it when she realized something and turned, "it's going to be so nice not having to sneak around so much to pee," she said with a grin. Very nice indeed.

"No more watching us take baths though, pervert," Zoro shot back.

"It's not like it's anything I haven't seen before, there's no point in stopping now," she teased.

Zoro waved her away with a hand, "I liked you much better as a boy," he said.

She smirked and ran off to dress herself properly.

They picked up their travels for the night, although Sanji slept through most of it. She was absolutely drained of energy. When morning came Sanji had the first watch but Nami stayed up to talk with her while the others were sleeping.

"What happened with the bandits?" Nami asked, her face as serious as stone.

Sanji spared her a weary smile. "Just about what you'd imagine. We were captured and taken to be slaves, the found out I was a girl so their leader guy was going to save me for later. We were chained to this pole until they came to take me away. Their lord only managed to cut my shirt open before fighting broke out and Usopp got me out and we found Zoro to escape."

"Are you okay?" Nami asked.

Sanji wanted to say yes but she knew that Nami wouldn't but that. "I'm alright," she said, "it could have been a lot worse."

"That doesn't mean you're alright."

"I'm alright enough."

Nami sighed, glancing at her busted lip, "Did he bite you?" she asked, poking her finger at the slightly swollen skin.

Sanji shifted uncomfortably. "Yes."

"Worst first kiss ever," Nami gave a wane smile.

"It wasn't my first kiss," Sanji said.

"What?"

"Before I got taken away I kissed Zoro so my fist kiss wouldn't be so horrible. You should have seen his face," she laughed.

The surprise on Nami's face quickly turned into an evil little smirk. "Do you like him?" she asked.

"No, I don't," she stated plainly.

"Okay."

"What? I don't!"

"I said okay."

"But you said it like- Ugh, whatever, I don't care. You can think whatever you want, just I to sleep already," she said in a flustered way.

Nami gave her a toothy grin before turning over to go to sleep. Sanji glared at her for a moment before brushing the conversation from her head. She had better things she could be thinking about.

XxxX

Traveling became so much less stressful without something to hide and the boys didn't treat her any differently. They still talked to her the same way, made the same jokes, when they came upon danger they didn't immediately turn to her defense, and Zoro didn't go easy on her. That last thing Sanji may have been most grateful for, she had never had a sparring partner as good as Zoro and she hadn't wanted to give him up just like that. Sanji had lost her knives to the bandits but she could use this new one well enough along with a knife that Nami had been carrying, although neither quite the weight she would have wanted.

Usopp adapted well into their group. He got along with everyone well enough. He made Luffy and Chopper laugh at his ridiculous stories and his jokes. He was a bit of a coward though and he seemed to be afraid of Zoro or at least the swordsman made him nervous. Sanji began teaching him to read a well, he caught on much easier than Zoro or Luffy. It was actually pretty impressive, he had nearly caught up to their progress as they neared the end of the desert.

By another moon turn they had passed gone the wasteland and they were headed up into mountains on the other side. The trip had been made much easier with Usopp, who knew all the secrets to surviving in such a hostile environment.

The mountains rose up sharply from the flat desert. There was a series of smaller hill then the real climbing began. The farther up they went the colder the air became and piles of snow started to appear. They were dressed for the heat and now suddenly they were in need of heavier clothes. It was Autumn after all, and it was said that winter came early in the mountains. They knew that traversing the mountain would be difficult but they couldn't just go around it. They were going to need help.

There was a city on the side of one of the mountains they visited. They stopped there and used what they could to buy warm clothes and supplies. They were watching hunters come in from the woods with dead animals when Luffy decided that they would be getting a guide to take them through the mountains. Nami was slightly indignant about not being trusted enough to guide them through the wilderness, but it was less they they didn't trust her and more than the townspeople didn't have any maps to follow, just vague instructions on where to go.

They wandered around the little town in search of anyone who could take them through the mountains. While they were searching, Luffy managed to get dislodged from the group and started wandering around on his own through the chilly streets. He was walking past a horse stable when he saw a man loading up supplies onto a hardy looking horse. If he was loading up a horse he must be going somewhere, Luffy imagined, so he walked closer.

The man glanced over his shoulder at the boy's approach. He was a sullen man with a hat that looked like a white and black spotted mushroom. His hair was dark and shaggy, and his eyes were sharp. He only spared Luffy a passing glance.

"What do you want?" the man asked gruffly, like he was hoping that Luffy would just go away if he sounded scary enough.

"Where are you going?" Luffy asked.

"Why do you want to know?" The man's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"We need to get through the mountains. I'm Luffy," Luffy explained.

"We?" The man raised an eyebrow, ignoring the introduction.

"My friends, we're looking for a guide."

"Where exactly are you going?"

"The city of One Piece," Luffy grinned as the man started laughing.

"No one ever makes it to One Piece," the man scoffed.

"We will," Luffy promised, "But first we have to get through the mountains."

The man gave him a long look, sizing him up. "How many of you are there?"

"Four boys and one girl, plus me," Luffy said. Sanji insisted on being introduced as a boy.

"Do you have money to pay a fare?"

"Nami does."

"Alright, I was headed out there anyway, I guess you could follow me. Assuming I don't change my mind when I meet this group of yours."

"Yes! What's you're name?"

"Trafalgar Law," Law said.

"You have to meet my group," Luffy said excitedly.

"Where are they?"

"I don't know, I lost them."

Law's face was blank with disbelief. "You what?"

"We were looking for a guide and I lost them. Come on, we have to go find them." Luffy started off toward the more heavily populated area.

Law stood for a moment to wonder what he had gotten himself into, but set off after the strange boy none the less.

After a while of searching they ran into Sanji and Zoro fighting as they traveled down the road opposite them. Luffy couldn't hear what they were fighting about but they both looked angry and Sanji had her hand resting on one of the daggers at her belt.

"Guys!" Luffy shouted, calling upon their attention. When they saw Luffy they moved toward them looking curiously at law.

"Who's this?" Sanji asked suspiciously, the man had a shifty look about him.

"He's going to take us through the mountains," Luffy said.

"Law," Law elaborated.

"Where did you find this guy, Luffy?" Sanji asked.

"Over there," Luffy pointed back the way he had come.

"And he was just good enough to help us out," Sanji lifted a spiral eyebrow.

"We have to pay him."

"I still don't like it."

"What other option do we have?" Zoro asked, "Don't worry, curly bow, I'll just cut his head off if he turns out to he a scumbag."

"Not if I do it first!"

The two of them went off, back and forth arguing as Luffy spotted the rest of their group approaching and introduced Law to them as well.

It appeared to everyone that despite Law's dark attitude Luffy seemed to like him and so, everyone else got along with him well enough. They would trust Luffy's judgment after all, although, a healthy bit of suspicion lingered over them. The group left for the long journey not long after the meeting. Nami had to pay Law half of his due money at the beginning on the trek and would pay him the rest if he got them to the other side, as much as it pained her to let go of the coin.

Walking though the mountains was hard work against the falling snow, the thin cold air made their lungs burn like fire and real fire had never been more welcome. At night Law would go off on his own to sleep but Luffy always made camp within arms reach of him and everyone else followed. They slept in a big pile like a bunch of puppies. Sanji had never felt like she belonged more than she did then, covered in fur coats and sleeping boys, plus Nami. Zoro was the warmest one there, he was like some form of human torch, so everyone tried to sleep by him.

Six days into their journey Law had them build camp next to a series of springs. Steam rose up from the clear water and the air around it felt warm.

"It's a hot spring," Law explained. None of them had ever seen a hot spring but any warmth was welcome out here.

Once the camp was all set up Law started removing his clothes.

"What are you doing?" Sanji asked with one raised eyebrow from where she sat trying to start a fire. She was resisting the urge to shield Nami's eyes as she was sitting right there working on a map she had started when they set off.

"Going swimming," Law responded, pulling his heavy coat over his head along with his undershirts.

Sanji rolled her eyes and turned away. Men, always wanting to take their clothes off. She heard the sound of splashing water and assumed it was okay be look up again.

When Sanji got a fire started Zoro and the others arrived carrying a dead boer and a suitable amount of fire wood. The fire was tended to and Sanji also took the boer to be prepared. Luffy and Usopp had already jumped into the spring, Nami was giving her a glare that said she did not want to deal with a dead boer, Chopper was lingering like he wanted to help but wasn't sure what to do, and Zoro looked like he was getting ready to fall asleep.

Sanji kicked the green haired man in the side. "Hey, you need to carry this thing down for me," she nodded at the dead boer. She didn't want to pull it apart here or it might attract bears, she wanted to go beneath the little hill thing they were on because she was too lazy to go farther.

"Why me?" Zoro grumbled.

"Because I said so and everyone else is in the water." Plus, he was the strongest one there but she wasn't about to say that.

Muttering, Zoro rose to his feet and grabbed the dead pig. He followed Sanji beneath the hill while she carried a strip of cloth to wrap the meat in to carry back up. She worked the boer as quickly as she could, her hands half frozen by the cooling blood and the frigid air. Zoro slept while she worked so Sanji didn't see why he had made such a fuss if he was going to end up doing the exact same thing.

When she had all the meat she could use, Sanji kicked Zoro awake again and they carried up the harvest. Law was out of the water in underclothes and poking at the fire but the others were still swimming around, or pretending to swim in Luffy's case. Nami was sitting along the edge of the water, putting her feet in.

Within the hour the smell of food drew everyone out of the water. They were merrily joking and laughing as the sun fell behind the trees. After dinner the boys returned to the water, Zoro with them. The fire may have been warm but it wasn't the same as being totally surrounded in warmth like in the spring. Nami even managed to slip into a separate pool about a foot from the main body of water before everyone else was done eating.

Sanji glared at the boys as they played wishing she could join them. Really, she could if she wanted but she felt uncomfortable getting into the water naked with five boys, two of them older than herself. Especially after what had happened at the bandit camp. She may have physically healed but the emotional damage still lingered. She wouldn't have to get into the same pool as them obviously but Nami had gotten into the water while everyone was distracted. As she weighed how much she really cared, Law noticed her glaring at them.

"Why don't you come on in? You aren't afraid of getting your hair wet are you?" their guide asked. He didn't know she was a girl but it wouldn't be hard to tell him, there wasn't much he could do with the information but they were being safe. Thinking he was dealing with the three tough boys, that being Luffy, Zoro, and 'Prince', instead of two though boys and a girl.

"No thanks," Sanji said back, poking at the fire.

"Don't be a baby!" Nami laughed at her.

"Yeah, come on! You have to come play with us," Luffy chimed in.

"I can't-"

"Sure, you can," Zoro cut her off, "it's too dark to see anything," he assured her.

"You sound a little too willing to convince me of that," Sanji said with narrowed eyes.

Nami let out an immature, "Oooooooo."

Zoro scoffed, "Don't flatter yourself, princess."

Law looked confused, "Why-?"

"She's a girl," Usopp said.

"Oh," Law said, "We could turn around while you get in."

Sanji considered that, this idea was sounding better and better. "Fine," she decided, "but you all have to turn around and stay away from me or I swear I will slit your throats in your sleep."

"Just shut up and take your clothes off," Zoro told her.

She threw an acorn at him and it hit him on the forehead. "Just turn around, pervert."

He did, and so did the others while she slipped out of her clothes. The air was very cold but when she slipped into the water it was blissfully hot, almost too hot. When she was fully submerged she called for the all clear. "I'm in," she told them as Nami splashed her, fitting warm water into her mouth.

They all turned and she felt very exposed. She crossed her arms across her chest, even though it was too dark to see into the water.

The younger boys resumed playing while Law and Zoro started talking.

"So, why does that one," Law pointed to Nami, "Dress like a girl while the other one pretends to be a boy?"

"Because the other one has some gender confusion issues," Zoro supplied.

"Shut up," Sanji told him, "I do not. I just get taken more seriously when I look like a boy. For some reason a boy with knives is more scary than a girl with knives."

"You're not even scary as a boy with knives," Zoro insisted.

"I still manage to kick your sorry ass!"

"Psh, I just go easy on you."

"You better not be doing that or I swear I will fucking murder you." It would hurt her very badly.

"Come over here and try it,"

"You just want to see me naked."

"No, I don't!"

As they fought the rest of the group ignored them like they were nothing. Law was less nonchalant about it.

"Are those two..." Law trailed off, leaving the others to interpret his meaning.

"Zoro and Sanji he like to fight," Luffy grinned. Law didn't seem to react to hearing Sanji's name. That would make sense. Close to the royal kingdom people may recognize her name but so far from there it would be far less likely.

"Oh yeah? Well, why don't you come over here an make me," Zoro goaded the blond girl. The rest of the group had missed what she had said but their attention turned to them again momentarily.

"I would but I'm not wearing anything right now!" Sanji shouted back at him. She was at the edge if the pool, leaning over toward the boy's pool but still submerged enough to give her cover. Zoro was sitting nearby but not close enough to be in her reach. To combat the distance, Sanji made a snowball and threw it in his face. The snow wasn't especially good for packing it seemed, so it mostly turned into a puff of snowflakes but a lump of snow did manage to hit him in the cheek.

"That's it!" Zoro said, grabbing a huge lump of snow and pouring water over it to make it stick better. When he threw it it whizzed past Sanji's left ear, brushing her face as it went by.

"Neither of you can aim!" Usopp laughed loudly and was met by two snowballs in the face. But The action was merely an afterthought when it came to their fighting, they were still trying to hit each other while the others either started throwing more snowballs or cowered, trying not to get hit.

When Sanji was hit in the center of her chest, just beneath her throat, she had had it with throwing things. "Can someone over there just fucking punch him?" Sanji shouted in aggravation to the boys. "I'd do it myself but I'm currently cursing my female body."

Luffy complied, at reaching out a fist and punched Zoro in the gut. "Like that?" he asked, grinning like an idiot.

"Dammit, Luffy!" Zoro shouted as he wheezed for breath.

Sanji smiled, "Perfect, now if you could just put your fist literally through his stupid head you would be my favorite person forever," she said wistfully.

Luffy pouted, "I'm not your favorite?"

"Right now you are, after that how could you not be?"

"What about me?" Nami asked childishly.

"You're my darling little swan, you will always be my favorite," Sanji assured her.

"And me?" Chopper asked.

"You're too adorable not to be."

"Me?" Usopp asked.

"You saved my ass from bandits, of course you're my favorite."

"What about Trafa-la-la-la?" Luffy asked, pointing to Law.

"I barely know him, idiot. Let's just say that everyone in out little group, minus Zoro, and I guess Law for now, are my favorites."

"What this guys has a chance and I don't?" Zoro whined, having recovered from the punch in the gut.

"Yep, that's what happens when you're such a fucking asshole all the time."

"Fair enough, but I'm just saying that it's a little weird that I wouldn't be one of your favorites seeing as you-" he was cut off my a glob of snow.

"Whatever you were about to say stop," Sanji said very seriously. She knew what he had been about to point out.

Zoro feigned innocence. "I don't know what you're talking about. All I was going to say is that-" he dodged another snowball, "In a time of uncertainty you-"

"Will someone pleased shut him up?!"

"No, I think if like to hear what he has to say," Nami grinned evilly.

"Thank you, you little witch. Now as I was saying, when we were in the desert-"

"La-la-la-la!" Sanji shouted, covering her ears.

"You kissed me and I'm just saying that it's not fair it you're just going to love me and leave me like that," he finished with a wicked grin.

Sanji sent him the most horrible face she could manage. Everyone else was quite, sensing the tension that had suddenly pulled the air so tight.

"I'm getting out, everyone turn around," Sanji said, her voice dangerously calm, holding eye contact with the moss headed idiot who sat across the way smirking at her.

Usopp let out a terrified squeak as they all turned around. Sanji broke the eye contact with Zoro as she got out, she didn't know if he looked away or not. She didn't really care either, her anger was distracting her from caring about silly things like that.

The blond girl quickly slipped into some clothes as everyone started nervously talking again. Sanji took her time adding wood to their fire before she circled the pools of water around to where Zoro was sitting against the rocks. He knew she was there, he watched her sharply all the while she walked. She knelt down behind him and placed her hands lightly on his shoulders.

She felt him tense under her hands, wary of her and uncomfortable with the contact. She leaned down until her lips were almost touching "Do you want to be my favorite, Zoro?" she asked sweetly, making sure to use name. She could feel the eyes of the others on her as she did so, the talking had stopped.

"No," Zoro replied stubbornly, she could sense the distrust in him like a physical thing.

"Then don't complain," she said, kissing him on the cheek lightly before she shoved down his shoulders and pushed his head underwater. She managed to hold him there for longer than she would have expected before he managed to yank her into the water and come up coughing and sputtering. She had anticipated going into the water so she had only put on underclothes and she knew she had extras packed away.

Sanji emerged from the water and had to duck as Zoro aimed a punch at her. She flopped not very gracefully to the side in order to avoid the swing and ended up sitting next to Law.

"Uh, hi," she said awkwardly as Zoro recovered from his miss.

"Uh oh, Sanji," Nami snickered, "You're currently taking a bath with five men. Be careful or people might start calling you Sanji the slut.

Sanji snorted, "I'm not taking a bath with five men, I'm sitting in the water with three boys, one man, and a moss monster."

Zoro splashed water in her face, she splashed back and suddenly there was an all out war. Until Law had enough.

"That's it!" he exclaimed, "I've had it." He got up, out of the water and went to retrieve his clothes, taking a seat by the fire.

Sanji crossed her arms and sat back against the rock behind her.

"Are you going to swim with us now?" asked Luffy as he gave a very pathetic attempt at trying to swim.

"No point in getting out now," she shrugged, "I'm already here."

"Sanji the slut!" Nami called out, giggling.

"That's not very nice, Nami," Sanji pouted.

"I'm just saying, people will talk."

"What people? We're in the middle of the woods."

"The yeti people," Luffy said seriously.

"Oh, sorry. Forgive me, I had forgotten about the yeti people," Sanji rolled her eyes.

"How dare you," Zoro hissed at her.

"I was spent the winter with a yeti once," Usopp chimed into the conversation.

"Really?" Chopper asked, wide eyed.

"I was out in search of fire wood for my village before I was taken as a slave, but I got stuck out in a blizzard. The snow was so thick I didn't even see the yeti when it tried to attack me," Usopp said dramatically.

"What did you do, Usopp?" Luffy asked.

"I pretended to be a baby yeti and it fed me all the rest of the winter, until I could slip away."

Sanji scoffed, "And what do yetis eat?"

"They eat snow berries and bear meat," he said with almost believable conviction.

"Well, it's a good thing none of us are bears then," Zoro said.

"Just because they only eat bears doesn't mean they don't kill other things, idiot," Sanji told him.

His brow twitched, "Yeah, well what do you know?"

"Enough that I'm confident that yetis don't exist."

"Maybe that's what they want you to think."

"Shut up."

The rest of the night was spent in relaxation, or relative relaxation at least. They eventually rose from the water, tired and ready for bed. Hopefully, the yetis would not attack them in their sleep.

XxxX

On the fifth day of walking Sanji started to feel sick. She could feel it in the soreness if her body, the beginnings of an ailment. Probably from being up in all this cold weather, she wasn't the best insulated person either with her scrawny figure. She didn't want to tell Chopper because he would insist on giving her something horrible to eat and she had a fairly good immune system, usually when she got sick it passed quickly with not a very spectacular show. Hopefully that would be the case this time too. So, she pressed on, ignoring any lingering discomfort and lightheadedness.

It was at midday when she went to take a piss that she noticed it. Blood. In her underclothes. For a moment she was stunned, she knew that at her flowering must come one day but now that it was here it was very strange. She quickly went back to camp and found a cloth to put in her underclothes and soak up the blood. She was a woman now and she was suddenly very grateful that she had left the castle when she did or she might be preparing for her wedding to the Prince now.

They journeyed for a time of fourteen days altogether through the mountains until they were on the other side of them in a cold but less frigid environment. They had come to the end of their journey. When it was time for them to part ways from their guide, Luffy made an effort to keep him with them.

"Come with us," Luffy told Law they were preparing to go their separate ways.

Law looked at him for a long time, considering his options. "I've lived all my life up in those mountains. I don't think I can keep up with you lot," he said wearily, "Besides I have things that need to be done here. Go on and follow you dreams without me, I wish you the best of luck."

Luffy nodded seriously then broke into a grin, "Goodbye, Law!" He shouted as he jumped up onto his horse. They were all sad to see him go.

XxxX

A/N: Yeah, now Sanji understands one of the most annoying things about being a girl. And I just had to add in a little hot springs interlude ;) it had to be done.

Did Law feel too... awkward? I feel like he did. I don't know.

Thanks.


	8. Everything at Once

As pretty as a picture hanging from a fixture  
Strong like a family, strong as I wanna be  
Bright as day, as light as play  
As hard as nails, as grand as a whale

All I wanna be, oh, all I wanna be, oh  
All I wanna be is everything, everything at once  
Everything at once, oh, everything at once

-"Everything at Once" Lenka

XxxX

The next city was ten days away, but they travelled much faster than they had done in the mountains. It was the city of one of the great knights, Lord Smoker. They didn't plan on staying long, they were closer to the city of One Piece than ever, but they needed food if they wanted to get there. Where they were going it would be cold, but not in the way the mountains had been. The city was surrounded by a windy wasteland, cold with biting winds, not just astoundingly low temperatures.

Sanji was not particularly impressed as they entered this new city. It was nice, but basic. It had been given just as a small token of gratitude toward the knight, so it did make sense that it wouldn't be the grandest thing ever. It used to be terrible for bandits, and other assorted scumbags, but when the knight had come he had cleaned the place up. He was stern and strict but effective in his methods.

The group walked together through the semi-crowded street. They were on the look out for cheep supplies and people who were easy to steal from. Prices here seemed to be fair, but it seemed that the vendors were wary of thieves. It was decided that only Nami would be stealing things here, just to be on the safe side. They didn't particularly want to be caught taking food, especially in this city. The cost of thievery was paid in severed fingers.

Usopp took Chopper and Luffy out to buy the things they would need while Nami stole things under the eyes of Sanji and Zoro, just in case she happened to be caught and needed some asses kicked.

The two badasses of team 'let's steal food' were leaning up against a wall opposite or the vendors Nami was stealing from. They were talking and not looking that way to defuse suspicion of them. Nami would shout if she was in trouble.

"I wish we could just magically acquire supplies," Sanji said wistfully, "Do you think there's a spell for that somewhere?"

Zoro shrugged. "Ask Chopper."

"Nah, I'm sure he would have said something if there was a spell like that. Why can't magic just bend to my every will?"

"Because you're not a sorcerer?"

"Psh, whatever. Life would be so much easier if I ruled the universe."

Zoro snorted, "That sounds like a terrible idea. What the hell would you do as ruler of the universe?"

"Well, first of all I would turn you into some sort of less annoying animal. I'm thinking a little green lizard. You would be much less annoying as a little lizard. I could keep you in a pocket or you could ride on my shoulder."

"I would bite you."

"With you're little baby lizard teeth?"

"Yes, I would do everything in my power to make things difficult for you."

"Not too difficult, I hope, because if you get too annoying I could just crush you in my hand and squish your guts." She made a clenching motion with her hand.

Zoro scrunched up his nose. "Wow, you fucking psychopath."

"I'm not saying that it would be my first reaction to making you a lizard, but it would be the back up plan."

"Whatever, I would be a tiger if I were an animal."

"Oh yeah, a big tough tiger?" Sanji laughed. That did fit him somehow, but it was funny that he had suggested such a tough animal.

"Yeah, and my first reaction would be to maul you and tear your face off."

Sanji wrinkled her nose, "Geez, violent much? This is exactly why I wouldn't make you a tiger if I ruled the universe."

Zoro opened his mouth to say something more but was interrupted when he tried to speak.

"You!" a female voice rang out from the right of where they were standing. Zoro turned and Sanji peaked around him to see a dark haired woman with a katana clutched in her hands pointing a finger directly at Zoro. She was wearing male clothing but they were fine and did not hide her femininity like Sanji's did.

Although he was facing slightly away from her, Sanji saw Zoro's expression go blank and become quickly overrun by shock. Something about her had set him off.

Sanji's eyes narrowed as the woman approached them, trying to see what made her so special. She looked like a southerner, but she did not have an accent like Zoro did. Her hair was short, shorter than was typical that is, not as short as Sanji's.

"That sword," the woman said as she walked closer, "It's Wado Ichimonji, one of O Wazamono swords."

Zoro shrugged. "Yeah," he said bluntly.

"What's someone like you doing with it?"

"It's my sword," Zoro said like it was obvious.

The woman frowned, "Can you even use it?"

"Yeah." What a stupid question.

"We'll see about that." She drew out her katana as Zoro drew one of his, not Wado, which seemed to insult the woman. She lunged forward and met Zoro's blade with force. The sound if clashing swords drew the attention of the people in the square, who nervously watched them.

Nami came up beside Sanji, a bag of supplies in her hands. "What's going on?" she asked, watching Zoro and the woman fight.

"Some Lady just walked up and challenged that idiot to a fight to prove his worthiness to a sword or something." It was clear who the better fighter was, the woman was barely holding back the blows Zoro dealt, but the moss head seemed a little distracted somehow. Sanji felt a little irritation in the back of her head toward him for not just finishing it and letting them go along with their supplies gathering.

"What's that face for?" Nami asked, looking at Sanji's sour expression.

"I just have a bad feeling about this," the blond said simply.

True to her feeling, when Zoro knocked the katana out of the woman's hands knights were starting to arrive on the scene and immediately started to attack the swordsman and there were a lot of them. That was when Sanji entered the picture, smashing in chest plates and knocking idiots out of the way.

When they took Zoro to the ground Sanji doubled her efforts to take out the knights. Sanji cursed at Zoro's recklessness for getting into a fight in the first place. It wasn't really his fault, but still.

She had lost track of Nami in the crowd and she couldn't tell what state Zoro was in, but she pressed on regardless, that is, until one of the knights managed to land a blow to her head. He hit her so hard in the side of the cranium with the edge of his shield that she fell unconscious to the ground in a heap, powerless as a horde of people panicked around her.

XxxX

Zoro pulled irritably at his binds as he was led with all the other rabble rousers into the Lord's hall. There were thirteen of them, counting himself. Sanji was also there, but she was unconscious, being dragged in by a knight. Zoro winced as she was dumped onto the carpeted floor of the hall with a thud. If only they knew who they were dealing with, then they wouldn't be so rough when they pulled her around.

That girl was certainly something. Half the time Zoro didn't know what to make of her, the other half he wanted to cut her throat out. She had the most irritating habit of getting under his skin and jabbing at his insides. She was a good fighter though, so that almost made up for it.

Sometimes it was hard to tell that she was actually a girl, mostly when she was filthy or screaming angrily at someone, but her voice didn't sound quite manly enough. When she did look like a girl she looked pretty enough to turn heads. Her being a boy was a lot easier for Zoro because then he was just some pretty boy, as a pretty girl she liked to tease him and he did not enjoy being teased. She had kissed him once, he had never kissed a girl before that and it was so quick that he didn't really know what to think now. Despite all that he still didn't really mind her being around and he knew that their group wouldn't run half so effectively is she wasn't there with Nami to direct them, they were a package deal. So, he hoped that her head injury wasn't too bad. Maybe it would even knock some sense into her thick skull.

Lord Smoker sat in his chair with a sour expression on his face. "What is this?" he demanded of one of the knights.

Zoro was shoved forward, "This man," the knight said, "Started a fight in the streets with Lady Tashigi."

"And where is Lady Tashigi?" Smoker asked, one eyebrow raised in question.

The knight hesitated, "Ah, I believe we left her in town."

"She started a fight with someone and you didn't think to bring her in with the rest of these idiots?"

"But sir, she's a-"

"She's responsible for getting into a fight and I want to hear what she has to say. Whatever it is will probably be more accurate that whatever you idiots think happened."

The door to the hall swung open and Tashigi ran in breathlessly. Zoro was very annoyed to see that she had his swords with him. His weapons had been taken when he was brought in.

"Good, you're here, tell me what happened," Smoker commanded her.

She held out the swords, showing them to the Lord. "That man," she pointed to Zoro, "Carries a legendary sword. When I saw them I had to make sure that he was worthy of its name."

"Is he?"

"He is an adept fighter," she admitted grudgingly.

"So, you admit to starting this fight?"

"Yes, and I think that you should think to employ this man into your guard," she said seriously.

Zoro looked at her in surprise. Why would she want something like that? How could they trust some random man on the street just because he was good with a sword? That sounded like a pretty good reason not to trust him actually.

"You want me to pick up a beggar off the street and turn him into a knight?" Smoker scoffed.

Tashigi shrugged, "You already have a woman as on of your knights, why not?"

Zoro raised an eyebrow at that. A woman leading the knights, that sounded like something Sanji would like.

Smoker thought for a moment before he spoke. "Would you be willing to train for knighthood?" he asked Zoro. "I should have you know that if you refuse I will be forced to cut off two of your fingers for getting into a fight in the middle of my street."

Well, if those were the choices. "I agree," Zoro said confidently.

Smoker nodded, "You will stay here in the castle under guard until you learn the way of the knights."

"I have friends in the city, who have nowhere to go," he told the Lord.

"How many friends?"

Zoro pointed to Sanji. "That one and four more more still in the city. Three boys and a girl."

"They may stay in the castle with you, but if I have high Lords or Ladies coming in I will give up my guest rooms to them."

Zoro nodded his thanks.

Smoker turned to the knight who had brought them in. "Take everyone away, minus the one he pointed out."

The rest were taken away leavening the unconscious Sanji and a restless Zoro. With a wave if his hand Smoker had them all uncuffed and he called a healer to look after Sanji. Zoro felt a tiny wave of apprehension as she was taken away. Hopefully, they would focus on her head wound and nothing else.

Zoro was taken to a block of rooms in some dark corner of the castle. He was asked to give a description of his friends so that the knights could find then and did so. Guards guided him as they made their way around the castle. It was at dinner that Lufffy, Nami, Chopper, and Usopp finally showed up and they were very grateful to see them. Sanji also turned up for dinner, groggy and out of it. They did not eat with the Lord but there were a number of other guests in the room with them.

"How did we get here?" Sanji asked Zoro slowly as she rubbed her throbbing temples.

"We got captured fighting in the street."

"And what's going to happen to us?"

"I'm going to be trained as a knight," Zoro told her.

She laughed at that, "You a knight? I'll believe it when I see it. Why the hell would they arrest you just to make you into the knight?"

Zoro shrugged, "That woman I was fighting was impressed by my sweet moves."

"She must not have been very good then," Sanji snorted.

"She's not as good as you," Zoro admitted, "but she's alright. Maybe you could fight her and get a knighthood too."

Sanji considered that for a moment then decided she liked the sound of being a knight. She also liked Zoro admitting that she was the better fighter between the two women. "Yeah, I'll totally kick her ass," she nodded. Zoro didn't doubt it. "But knights don't usually use knives, just swords because swords are all flashy and shit." She waved a hand like she was grasping a sword.

"You could be a special knight," Luffy proposed. "I'll be a knight too and we can form our own gang of knights."

"Luffy, what the hell would you do under all that armor? You wouldn't be able to move around," Nami pointed out, unimpressed with this idea.

"I wouldn't wear armor, I would wear what I usually do, but I would have a fancy title. That's all a knight is."

"No, it's not," Usopp said, "A knight is a man-"

"Or woman," Sanji mumbled.

"-who carries out justice and rides for glory," he finished.

Nami scoffed, "Obviously you haven't spent a lot of time around knights."

"What wrong with knights?" asked the former bandit.

"They're just people, like anyone else. Just because you're a knight doesn't make you any more noble than anyone else. There are good knights and bad ones. I've known a lot of bad ones," Nami said wisely.

"If all knights had to be noble then the marimo wouldn't be allowed to join," Sanji said, poking at her food as she'd stomach clenched.

"Are you okay?" Chopper asked Sanji in concern, ignoring the aggravated words now pouring from Zoro's mouth. "You look a little..."

Sanji waved a had at him, "They said that I bruised my brain and they gave me some horrible thing to drink, but I'll be fine."

Chopper wouldn't let her get away so easily. He got up from his seat and started fussing over her, asking her what they had her drink and looking her over for any abnormalities. Sanji put it with it, although she wasn't happy about it. In the end Chopper gave her a charm to ease the pain and told her to be careful. He had nothing to worry about, she was always careful.

At the dinner Luffy stressed out the cooks by eating nearly everything they had. Sanji wished that she could go back and help out in the kitchens, but they weren't likely to let some random street boy just wander in and start calling the shots, that wasn't how it worked. Also, she was slightly afraid that if she stood she would throw up, she was feeling slightly sick.

Dinner carried on, filling their bellies with food that was almost too rich for them to stomach. Sanji wondered when they would be leaving this place. That woman wanted Zoro to become a knight, that would take time and none of them, as far as she was aware, wanted to stay longer than necessary. Hopefully, they would just let them go on as they wished, this seemed like a nice enough place and from what she had seen and heard the Lord was just and good. She held out hope for that.

The dinner had been late and when it was completed the group was escorted to their block of rooms. The rooms weren't the most comfortable of places and they had been spaced out so that none of them were next to each other, but it was better than sleeping on dirt and stone the way they usually did. They all went off to their separate rooms warily and settled in for sleep.

In the middle of the night Zoro was startled awake by something jolting his door. He quickly sat up, lit a candle, and answered the door. He was surprised to see Sanji standing there looking lost in the dark hallway. That was rather strange.

"What do you want?" he asked her tiredly.

"I was..." She trailed off, "I couldn't sleep, so I went walking around and when I went to go back to my room I couldn't remember where it was, so I was checking all the ones that looked familiar." Well, wasn't that a twist? Usually, Zoro was the one who had to seek out help in finding his way around. It must have been because her brain was all fucked up.

"Why didn't you just ask a guard where you room is?" He glared down the hall to where one guard sat half asleep in his chair.

Sanji wrinkled her nose, "Because then they would think I was stupid and I don't trust them. I fell like one of them is going to storm into my room and suffocate me in my sleep."

Zoro rubbed his forehead. "Just go find a random room then, there are lots to pick from."

"Most of them are locked. I was hoping that I would find someone else's room, not yours." She frowned. Her best hope was that if she didn't find her room she would have found Nami's but nope, the universe had different plans.

"What, did you want to climb into bed with someone like a scared little kid?" That was an amusing thought.

"No," Sanji said indignantly, "I just want to sleep with the knowledge that no one is going to break in and molest me or something."

"Isn't that what I said?"

"Shut up, if you want me to leave just say so," she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

Zoro looked at her incredulously. "Are you seriously trying to get into bed with me right now?"

Sanji rubbed a tired hand over her face, her expression pinched. "Yeah, and I'm using my most seductive methods to get what I want. So either make me leave or let me stay because I don't think I can stand here for much longer."

Zoro sighed and pushed the door open further to let her in. What did he care if she came in? She walked through the door slightly unsteadily and went to sit on his bed while he moved the candle to look at her face. She looked a little... off.

"Are you alright?" he asked carefully, taking a seat beside her on the mattress. She didn't look alright.

"I'm fine, it's just my head. I thew up out my window earlier," she told him.

Zoro wasn't a doctor but that didn't sound good. "Did the healers say this would happen?" That sounded the opposite of fine.

"They said I might," she shrugged. "They also said I probably shouldn't sleep for the next day. I wanted to ignore them on that, but I can't sleep anyway, so I guess I'm out of luck there," she said mournfully.

"Are you just going to sit in here and annoy me all night then?"

She shrugged, "I guess so. You sleep enough during the day to make up for a lost night, I think."

"But I have people to impress tomorrow," Zoro grumbled, thinking of the fighting he would be doing on the morrow. It would be nice to fight someone with swords again, not that fighting Sanji's knives was boring, it was just good to face someone whose moves one has yet to memorize.

Sanji looked confused for a moment. Then she seemed to remember what he was talking about. "Right, Lady Tashigi seems to like you."

Zoro made a face. "Don't say it like that. She doesn't like me, she just sees my amazing skills and is impressed by them."

Sanji rolled her eyes, "I guess she would have to be if she's not even as good as me."

"Not everyone can fight like you can. It's because you fight so fucking weirdly.

"It's because I'm awesome. Oh yeah, that reminds me, when we first met Tashigi you made a really weird face. What was that all about?"

Zoro scowled. "She looks exactly like Kuina."

"Your sister?"

"Yeah, she fights the same way too."

"That's so weird, what are the chances of that happening?"

"I don't know, but I don't like it. It's unsettling."

"Just remember to kick her ass and look impressive or who knows what kind of trouble we'll get into."

"I alway look impressive."

"Sure you do," Sanji chuckled, "I don't think I'll be impressing anyone tomorrow," she sighed.

"You should have been paying more attention when you were fighting, then you wouldn't be so brain dead right now."

"Oh, sorry I don't have a million eyes, so I could have been watching every angle of attack," she rolled her eyes. "I'm just a weak little girl and this defiantly wouldn't have happened if I had a penis."

Zoro made a face, "I wasn't saying you got hit because you're a girl."

"I'm a woman," she said with an elegant flip of her hair, "And I know, but I'm feeling really angry right now, so you get to deal with my misplaced anger."

Zoro decided not to comment on her apparently having hit puberty. He honestly didn't want to know that. "Why are you angry right now?"

"I'm always generally angry because people are fucking stupid," she huffed, "I mean as soon as people know I'm a girl I become a fucking victim and it's bullshit. I don't want to deal with that shit. I swear, if you ever treat me like a girl I'll castrate you."

"Sometimes I'm not even sure you are a girl," Zoro told her.

"Good, that's just how I want it to be. Keep thinking that way."

"Well, I have to now, my manhood is at stake."

"Yes, it is, so you had better obey me."

"Okay, now when you say 'obey me' it makes me want to do the opposite of what you tell me to."

"I want you to obey me and treat me like a girl. Is that better?"

"Confusingly, yes."

"Whatever works," Sanji sighed, "Ugh, why the fuck is it so cold in here?" She flopped onto her back, clucking her head with it's dull aching.

"Because the room is made of stone and there's no fire," Zoro said bluntly, "It's not that cold."

"Says you, you radiate heat."

"Why don't you go back to your room and go curl up under your covers?"

"Why don't I just to that here?"

"Because this is my room and I want to sleep."

"But you haven't kicked me out yet and if I stay here then I can take advantage of your body heat."

Zoro made a face at the words that came from her stupid mouth. Did she have to make everything so awkward? "I'm not going to heat you with my body."

"You're very obtuse, you know that? Boys are supposed to jump at the chance to get into bed with a girl," Sanji said lightly. It wasn't like they hadn't before. When they were up in the mountains everyone was on top over everyone but, to be fair, this was an entirely different situation with just the two of them.

Zoro raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're not trying to seduce me?"

"I thought we already discussed this, I'm trying to manipulate you into keeping me from freezing to death." She pulled at his bed covers and rolled herself under them.

Zoro sighed and got under the covers as well. On the other side of the bed, thank you.

"Good boy," she grinned as he blew out the candle.

Zoro felt the sudden urge to growl at her like a dog but he held back and said nothing. She was just so fucking irritating sometimes.

"Let's hope that no one comes to wake you up tomorrow or we may has to explain an awkward situation," Sanji chuckled.

"You should go back to your room before then," Zoro told her, yawning.

"I'll go back when it's light out and I can see where I'm going. It's not like I'm going to get much sleep anyway."

"Whatever, just let me sleep," Zoro grumbled. Although they were sufficiently separated he could sense her as a sort of irritation on the edge of his consciousness. It was incredibly irritating.

"Fine," Sanji said, deciding to give him a break. "Goodnight, marimo."

He grumbled some sort of acknowledgement and his eyes slid shut. Sleep came to him very quickly, as it always did.

True to her word, Sanji did not get much sleep that night. She couldn't seem to let her eyes shut for very long. Instead she listened to Zoro's breathing, it was even and calming. He didn't move around much but at one point in the night he had been talking in his sleep, she couldn't understand because he spoke in the tongue of the southern lands and he was mumbling.

She felt kind of creepy for watching him sleep when I was light enough to do so, but there wasn't really anything else to look at. If she didn't focus on something then she would fall into a horrible half sleeping state and she didn't feel like being terrified by her subconscious at the moment. It's not like his face was that interesting. Sure, he was relatively good looking if she was being honest, but he wasn't the most handsome man in all the kingdoms. When he slept his face relaxed and he didn't scowl anymore and that was a little weird. She liked staring at his hair though, it made her laugh for whatever reason. There was just something ridiculous about green hair. It was like grass but finer. She imagined what it would be like to have an entire field of green grass hair and that made her want to laughter even more. It would be so soft underfoot, rolling around in it would feel amazing. That gave her some pretty weird mental images, so she decided to push the thought aside. Thinking about Zoro's hair made it really hard not to reach out and touch it when he was so close, but touching someone in their sleep is, like, epitome of creepiness, so Sanji restrained herself.

When it grew to be morning Sanji decided that she should probably go. After a time she pushed back the warm covers and was subjected to the cold air around her. She stood, stretching like a cat. She wavered slightly, her head still felt fuzzy and her balance was still off. It didn't help that she was bleeding again, being a woman was so inconvenient. Before leaving she walked around to Zoro's side of the bed on impulse and leaned over him for a moment, it made her feel weird looking at him like that, so she flicked him in the center of his forehead and quickly left the room. He didn't so much as stir. Idiot.

Outside Sanji wandered the halls rather aimlessly, she had no idea of where her room was and she had no intention of asking one of the drowsy guards she passed along her way. She wandered for a while until one guard got tired of her pacing and took her to her room. It was even colder than Zoro's had been and here she couldn't share heat with anyone.

It was still early but she still didn't feel like sleeping, so Sanji drew out her stolen knife and took to cleaning it with a rag she found in one of her bags. She didn't have any polish and it wasn't doing the weapon much good but it made her feel better, so she kept at it until the sun was fully up.

Hopefully, this day would be a good one. Sanji felt in desperate need of a good day, that and something to relieve the pain in her head. The quiet of the room seemed to echo around her. It was weird after all night of listening to Zoro's breathing. She remembered when she had a room of her own back in the royal kingdom. She had never liked sleeping in the same bed as anyone else before. Now she apparently wasn't bothered by it, odd how things could change like that.

A lot of things had changed. Sanji ran a hand through her hair. It was getting shaggy again, she would have to cut it again soon. She missed her long hair a little bit. If she had her choice now she would keep her hair shoulder length and tie it up in a ponytail, she liked to do that before but they made her keep her hair long.

She wondered what Robin was doing, if she was missing her girls. Sanji missed her and she knew that Nami did as well. Thinking about her gave way to a dull ache in her chest. Robin was one if the few things she missed; Robin, Franky, and the kitchen staff. So, it was only people she missed. She wished that they could see her now, strong and facing danger with steal in her hands. She wished that the whole world could see her. Then maybe they could see how stupid all those rules about women were. But probably not, people like that didn't just change but she could always hold out hope, and wish on stars, and fallen eyelashes, and coins. There were so many things for her to wish on, hopefully if she wished on enough things something might actually happen. Probably not though, that's not how life works.

Until then she would just exist, she would keep on keeping on in her usual awesome way. So, she with that in mind Sanji sat around, lazily cleaning her knife and biding her time while she waited for morning to come. Someone would be coming to fetch her for breakfast soon, so she slipped into fresh clothes and waited.

XxxX

A/N: I don't know how I feel about Tashigi... I just... Ugh, I think it was kind of cheap to make her look like Kuina, just saying. Just saying. Other than that I guess she's cool.

Yay for concussions. They sound super not fun.

Thanks.


	9. Skin

You can feel like a part of something if you're part of the scene  
You can make your life look pretty add a little ice and gin,  
Wash off the make-up and prepare the aspirin  
Well you can get out of this party dress but you can't get out of this skin.

-"Skin" BOY

XxxX

Luffy was walking along one of the many castle corridors completely and utterly lost. He had been with Usopp at breakfast and when Chopper had gone off to talk to the castle's healers the two of them had run around looking for secret passages. Sanji hadn't been at breakfast, neither had Zoro. Luffy just assumed that they were training with the knights, but he had only seen Zoro in the yard. Nami went off to find the library as soon as breakfast was over, Luffy thought that sounded really boring. Reading was hard, although he was getting to be okay at it thanks to Sanji.

Sanji would never have let them take Zoro training without her, she was always trying to be better than him at fighting. The straw had wearing boy thought it was probably because she was a girl and girls weren't supposed to be that good, but Sanji was very good. It was strange to think of Sanji as a girl sometimes. She always wanted them to say 'him, his, and he' when they were talking about her even when they were alone so they wouldn't get used to calling her by her girl name, but they always forgot and ended up calling her Sanji anyway. Maybe she wasn't out training because she had hit her head, she seemed a little weird after that happened.

Luffy glanced at the empty walls around him, thinking that this place would be much less dark if someone would paint all the walls with bright colors. Not paying attention, he turned a corner and and smacked straight into Usopp, causing the other boy to fall flat on his back.

"Luffy!" he exclaimed, "I've been looking everywhere for you."

"I got lost," Luffy grinned. Getting lost was the best thing to do in a new place, so many interesting things to see.

"I found a room filled with treasures," Usopp told him with a twinkle in his eyes.

"I want to see it!"

"Come on then!" Usopp started running down the long hall until they saw a skinny gray cat darting away down a fork in the way. From the hall it had just come down there were voices and the clatter of feet. Usopp wanted to run down the same hall as the cat, but Luffy peaked his head around the corner to see what was going on. There were five armored knights standing by the a door that was being slowly unlocked by some old man. At the side of one of the knights was a sheep tied to a rope and tossed over the shoulder of another of the knights was Sanji, who looked to be unconscious.

Luffy frowned, something shady was going on here and that wasn't what he was all about. What should he do about this? "Hey, what are you doing?" Luffy shouted at them. Always go for the direct approach.

Beside him and around the corner Usopp jolted in shock at his recklessness. "Luffy!" he hissed.

The guards had all turned their heads as the door they stood in front of creaked open. Luffy ran forward to meet them while Usopp fled down the hallway with the cat.

Luffy darted past the first two guards who came his way, making instead for the one who had Sanji as he stepped into the room with the big door. Upon seeing the boy still running toward them another guard made to punch him. The blow landed, but was only bounced back by the rubbery skin.

"Prince!" Luffy shouted as he watched the man carrying Sanji walk toward what looked the a stone doorway in the middle of the room. The door didn't seem particularly special on it's own, but when Luffy looked at through it the air between it's sides seemed distorted somehow. The old man stood beside it, a knife in hand and the sheep at his feet. He pressed the blade to the neck of the animal and made a quick cut, releasing a stream of blood that quickly pooled on the ground. Then he dipped his hands in the dark liquid and smeared them the stone doorway. He cupped his hands and poured the blood down the frame of the door, which was already flaky with blood if one care enough to look at it closely. The distorted inside of the door rippled slightly and the man holding Sanji stepped up to it.

As the Luffy ran forward he heard the footsteps of someone behind him and felt himself be tackled to the floor just as Sanji was tossed through the doorway like a sack and she did not come out the other side. Luffy struggled and tried to worm his way out of the guard's grip but the weight on him had his body pinned. Other guards soon appeared and rushed to aid their brother in arms to hold the struggling child.

XxxX

Usopp was running as fast as his legs would carry him. He didn't even know where he was going anymore, but he knew he had to tell Zoro and Nami about this. He ran and ran until he was out in the yard and he saw Zoro laying in the grass sleeping. The former bandit slave stumbled to his knees and shook the swordsman awake. He didn't worry about what he was doing because there was no one to see them.

"What?" Zoro grumbled as he was pulled into consciousness. He was tired from the training they had done that morning.

"They took Sanji!" Usopp said in a hushed whisper.

"Don't use that name," Zoro hissed back immediately, even as his brain began to process what he was hearing. "Where?" he demanded.

"Behind some fancy door. Luffy went after them." He suddenly felt very stupid for running away.

"What sort of door?"

"I don't know, a big fancy one. They had a old man open it and one of them had a sheep for some reason."

Zoro's mind latched to an idea. This was one of the castles with a linking door. Every door required a blood sacrifice, the larger the thing being sent the more blood was needed. Sanji would probably be worth about a sheep. They must have sent Sanji back to the royal lands through that door. They would send Nami next, if they hadn't already.

Zoro stood abruptly, just as Tashigi walked into the courtyard with a band of knights at her back.

"You are hereby under arrest for harboring a criminal," the woman said, an unhappy expression on her face. She didn't look like she wanted to be arresting them, but that was her job.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Zoro said feigning ignorance.

"You traveled with the Lady Sanji of house Black. She killed a Lord, and kidnapped on of the King's wards, that means you harbored a criminal. Now you have to suffer the consequences." She put a hand on the hilt of her katana.

"Maybe things were better for her here than there," Zoro argued stubbornly as Usopp cowered behind him.

"Maybe they were, but here we follow the King's law and the law says we must arrest you so we will."

"Then what will you do with us?" Zoro asked.

"Whatever the crown decides to do with you." Her eyes narrowed in on Zoro's face. "You had better hope that girl is a maiden or they might have your head. She might be a murderer but she was still promised to a Prince. On of the guards said she spent most of the night in your chambers. If you-"

Zoro scoffed at her and interrupted before she said something even more stupid, "I think at this point she would probably wish not to be a maiden just as a slap in the face to the Prince. That would be her fault, not mine."

Before the Lady knight could retort another group of knights came forward, one dragging Chopper at his side. "Lady Tashigi," he greeted her from across the yard. "A message has been received from the door. We are to send the prisoners to the kingdom for the Prince to deal with. The other girl has already been sent though."

"So many?" Tashigi asked in mild surprise. There would have to be a good amount of blood let for sending so many people to be sent though. Blood wasn't the only way to send things through the door, there were spells but they were all ridiculously complicated, so blood was the most convenient when they only had to send a few things every so often.

"Just so, my Lady." The knight nodded.

Tashigi turned to Zoro and Usopp. "Will you come willingly, or will I have to force you?" she demanded.

Zoro weighed their options. He thought that he might be able to fight his way out, but then they would still need to get Luffy and Luffy would insist on going after Sanji through the door. They could go through willingly, but then they would fall right into the binding arms of the royal law. Zoro sighed, he knew what Luffy would want to do so there wasn't even much to think on. "We will go," Zoro said, although his hand was still at the hilt of his sword. Usopp gave a little squeak behind him and Chopper was staring at him with wide eyes.

Tashigi looked shocked but tired to maintain a neutral expression. She noticed his hand and nodded to it. "You'll have to hand over your weapons," she told him.

Zoro gave her a look that could melt flesh from bone.

"My Lady," the knight said again, "You said that this slave boy carries a legendary sword, I believe the Prince would appreciate such a gift."

Tashigi scowled, knowing he was right. "Fine, send the swords in after them." She gave a wave of her hand and the guards came forward to put them under arrest. Heavy binds were placed on their arms and Zoro's weapons were taken from him. They were marched directly to the door room where the the old man was waiting for them with a small group of sheep. Luffy was there as well, sea stone binds weighing heavily on him.

The old man drew his already bloody knife across the throat of one of the sheep, then smeared the rock until it was running wet with blood. Zoro the was first to be lead forward. He stood in front of the strange doorway, not knowing what to expect. A sharp poke at his back prompted him to take a step forward, so he did. He just had to remember that this was all for the best. They would save Sanji and they would save Nami. He could only imagine just how much Sanji would fucking hate being rescued like a damsel in distress. The idea was almost enough to make him laugh.

He took his step and felt a sudden weightlessness. As his skin passed through the arch he felt like he was stepping through flat, calm water into the open air, but he wasn't falling. The step seemed to last a very long time, longer than he would have imagined, but then he was through on the other side in another dark room with crossbows aimed at his face. He could barely register what he was seeing as his head spun so horribly he though he might fall over or be sick. A man dragged him forward as Luffy came through the door followed by Usopp and Chopper, then finally the swords came through with their note to the King or the Prince or whoever it was running things in this stupid castle.

There was no one of importance in the room, at least not that Zoro could see, everyone seems to be a guard, but he head was still spinning so he couldn't be too sure of that. The four of them were grabbed for and led out into a hall, down a series of corridors to what Zoro presumed to be the dungeons. Lovely, he liked this place already.

XxxX

Sanji was still half asleep and she didn't know where she was. She was on a soft blanket so she thought she must be in a castle, but she couldn't remember what she was doing there or when she had fallen asleep. She moved her hand toward her face and it followed her order softly as she rubbed her eyes of sleep, but still couldn't get them to focus. She thought harder. She remembered being with Zoro before she had gone to sleep, but he hadn't been there when she drifted off, she had been waiting for something. She left him before morning came.

Breakfast. She suddenly remembered, her stomach reminded her of that with a pinched pain. She tried to force her eyes open harder and slapped herself to try to keep awake. She was semi successful and confused at the sight that met her eyes. She appeared to be back in her old room, but that couldn't be possible, this was defiantly not where she had gone to sleep. Alarmed, she forced herself up, the world spun like a top and her head fell back on the posters of the bed letting pain shoot through her head. Fuck, her head still hurt, but she was defiantly awake now.

She looked down at herself. She was in a clean nightgown and her body lacked the grime she had fallen asleep in. Her breath caught and she stumbled for a mirror. She fell halfway across the room and had to crawl part of the way, but she made it.

Her hair had been brushed out of it's matts and she was surprised to see how long she had let it grow, it didn't look so long when it was all knotted up. It almost looked girly again, someone had trimmed off the damaged ends though. That was probably why. She was horrified to see that not only was her face clean but her eyebrows had been shaved again. At least she was still black and blue form the fighting in the city, they couldn't hide that so easily. She would wear those injuries with pride until they faded away.

It almost made her want to cry. She had been free for a time with people who could understand her. Who knew where they were now. They could be beheaded for something like this, she knew. She clenched her fist tightly against the edge of the table in front of her. After a moment of silent rage she stormed toward her closet and rifled through the clothes. She always had spare clothes under the four loose bricks in the floor but when she lifted them she found that they were gone. She had only her girl clothes now, knowing that made her want to tear her dress and walk around in a torn gown, she had grown used to having pants around her legs so now a dress felt suddenly very reveling and weird.

The sensation brought on another realization. She was flowering, they must have seen the blood when they washed her. They knew she was a woman now. She cursed, then remembered that they would probably more likely harm her than wed her at the moment, that was strangely a relief.

Leaving her closet she went to the door, she didn't expect it to open and was unsurprised to find it locked. She huffed angrily and went to sit at the window. Her room was not the highest in the castle, but it was off the bottom floor and the castle was on a hill so she could see over the city and on to the woods beyond. It was a pretty sight and before it had made her feel wistful, now it made her feel trapped. She wondered if it was worth squeezing out the small opening and hoping she fell to her death. The thought that she might be able to fit if she tried. But no, she didn't think she could do that, she could always wish none the less.

She was alone in her room for a few hours, drifting in and out of sleep for a while before anyone came to get her. She was never fully asleep, only halfway. When someone did finally show up it was the Prince who appeared, a row of guards behind him at the door, but he brushed them away as he entered her room, shutting the door behind him. They were alone together, just the two of them. That made her nervous but not quite as afraid as she had been before she had left. He didn't seem quite so intimidating now, although she would be a fool not to be at least a little colored with fear. He was a predictor after all, as cold blooded and ruthless as his name would lead one to believe.

The man was silent for a moment, just staring at her. "You have done some shameful things, my Lady," he said without inflection, his expression betrayed nothing, so Sanji just glared at him from her seat on her bed.

"I supposed you would want to know what will be done of you," he continued, but Sanji still said nothing. "The fishmen call for your head on a spike, but I will not give it to them," he gave a smile that made her shiver, that smile read as danger, "We will be married within this turn of the moon and your companions will wither away in the dungeons." His grin was cold and malicious, it rose the hair on the back if her neck. Sanji wished she had a knife or any sharp object, she would have gladly stabbed him and let his warm life's blood cover the floor. She was almost chocking on her rage, but her head swam too fast for her to stand and she was afraid she might pass out.

The grin did not falter as he watched her. "You needn't worry, all the preparations will be carried on without your input, your usual tasks will be soon granted to you again under the eyes of my guardsmen if you are a good girl, and the fishmen will say nothing or face the fury of the royal city. Your safely is assured, my Princess. Soon enough we will be happily wed and if we are lucky, you will have a son swelling in your stomach. I've always wanted a son, a daughter will never do. You had best keep that in mind. But I can see you are overwhelmed by all of this. I will leave you to your peace once again." He didn't even bother to put in a mocking expression, he let his words work for him as they passed those smirking lips.

Sanji felt the bubble of anger in her chest, her rational mind tried to stop her when the words were in her throat but the emotion was too great to hold them back. She couldn't just sit back and say nothing, she couldn't. Not after everything that had happened.

"Go fuck yourself, maybe then you can make a son for yourself," she spat, lifting her chin in defiance, "I've heard that there are some great masters of magic who can give you both parts to do the job, seeing as you lack the penis. That is why your last wife couldn't conceive, wasn't it?" the words dripped from her mouth like venom. A very bad choice she had made but she couldn't help it and it felt far too good in the moment.

The expression had frozen on Crocodile's face when she first started to speak and had dropped into a look of absolute rage. She should have seen the blow coming but he smacked her so hard that it was only a blur. The cold metal of his hooked hand smashed across her face so hard she worried that he might break her cheek bone, but she lifted an hand to her face and it seemed to be in tacked. At least the bone was, the skin had torn and had started to bleed. A second later she felt the tip of the hook dig into her side as her yanked her forward, forcing the tip through her skin. She tried her best not to scream but a horrible, croaked sound wormed it's way involuntarily from her throat. With his other hand he grabbed a handful of her short hair and pulled her head up so that she had to look him in the face. His grip pulled hard at her scalp and she squeezed her eyes tight from the pain.

"Look at me," he growled, shaking her. She took her good time opening here eyes to look at his stupid scarred face. "I suggest," he said dangerously, "that you learn to shut your pretty fucking mouth or the time you spend as my wife will be much more unpleasant than it has to be." He pulled harder at her hair. "You will marry me, you will have my son, and you will tame your tongue or I will cut it out. Do we have an understanding?" The look he gave her made her blood cold.

"Yes," she managed, although saying it made her want to cut that tongue off herself. It wouldn't do her any good to get herself killed, she wasn't married yet, lots of things could happen in a month.

Sir Crocodile tisked at her and shoved her back against her bed roughly. She landed awkwardly and her hands were at her bleeding side. Before leaving, her husband to be made sure to wipe the blood off of his hook and onto the front of her dress, right over her stomach. A touch that promised her much pain in the future.

He retreated out the door without looking back, leaving Sanji to boil in her rage. She held the bleeding wound at her side but that wasn't her main concern, right now she was trying not to cry. The tears were in her eyes, begging to fall, but she felt that if she let them she would be losing something. If she let them fall she would just be some stupid girl doomed to the same fate as every other stupid girl in this whole stupid kingdom. She breathed deeply and willed the tears away, she wasn't going to stand for this. Something had to be done.

Her next visitors were just people bringing her food, they did not speak to her. Nor did the comment on her new injuries, they only tended to them as they were called to do.

Robin came the next day. Sanji had been throwing the beads of a broken necklace out the window when she walked in. That was something she liked to do now, she would take her jewelry and break it as much as she could. She would arrange it into pictures on the ground and the bits she didn't like she threw out the window. What else did she have to do?

Sanji felt a sudden surge of happiness and homesickness upon seeing Lady Robin, even though she was already home. Robin smiled at her and took the girl into her arms, kissing the top of her head. "It has been far too long, my darling," Robin said sweetly, but Sanji was trying too hard to focus on not crying all over the front of Robin's dress.

"I missed you," the blond girl sniffed, "Nami did too."

"But not enough that you wanted to stay," the dark haired woman said knowingly, "I don't blame you for that."

"How is Nami?" Sanji asked suddenly, "She's not in trouble for what I did, is she?"

"Nami is fine, they are searching for a suitable match for her. It's you I worry for," Robin said, brushed back Sanji's short blond hair.

"What about uh- our friends?" She didn't know quite what to call them, they were her little bunch of misfits and Zoro. Because fuck that guy, he wasn't her anything, dammit.

"Your friends are okay for now, they are being kept down in the dungeons, but they are still being fed. When you first arrived there was worry you might not be a maid anymore when they saw you were traveling with a boy your age."

Sanji scoffed, "No need to worry about that, I wouldn't give my maidenhood up to that idiot."

Robin smiled at her, "Very well. What are they like, these friends of yours?"

Sanji suddenly felt horribly, horribly guilty for getting them caught and imprisoned. "Luffy is like a child but he can fight and sometimes he makes wise choices. He made all the decisions for the group and he was the first I met. Zoro is an idiot and he's almost as hardheaded as I am so we fight literally all the time, verbally and physically. He fights with me like I'm not a girl, so sometimes I don't hate him. Usopp is a coward but he's good with a slingshot or a bow and he's good at telling stories. Chopper is sweet and little but he knows just as much about healing as any castle healer, probably more."

"You love them well," Robin observed.

Sanji nodded, "They were our little family and they liked me the same as a girl and a boy. They don't deserve to stay locked up down there, they always had my back and Nami's."

"They don't deserve to be imprisoned," Robin agreed, she sounded like she was plotting something but Sanji knew better than to ask her. If Robin needed for help in this plan she would be told about it.

The two talked a while longer about various things that Sanji had seen on her journey. When she left, Robin promised to bring Nami to her the first chance she could. That turned out to be just before she had prepared for bed on the next day. Nami came in her bed clothes saying she was going to spend the night and jumped onto her bed. Sanji had been reading a book at her little desk and looked up suddenly at the interruption.

"They have Luffy and the others, what are we going to do?" Nami asked sadly.

Sanji shrugged, "You tell me, you were always the smarter one."

"True, but we can't do much locked up in here," Nami sighed. "What happened to your face?" she asked, looking at the plastered over scrape on her cheek that had still yet to disappear.

"Crocodile," Sanji said bitterly, touching the place where the skin was torn.

"Was it for running away?"

Sanji winced, "No, I told him that he should become a hermaphrodite so that he could impregnate himself. I also may have implied that the sexual organ that he was lacking was male," she said sheepishly.

Nami's expression was one of complete disbelief. "You actually said that?"

Sanji nodded, "Yep."

"You're lucky he didn't rip your head off."

Sanji shrugged again, "Yeah, well what does it matter anyway at this point?"

"What do you mean?" asked Nami suspiciously.

"We tasted freedom only to be locked up in a cage again. If I get married any chance of happiness will be over for me," she said dully.

You won't get married," Nami promised. Sanji hoped that she could follow through with that promise.

The two of them fell asleep side by side, but in the morning Nami was taken away again. A few days later, when her bruises had subsided Sanji was allowed to go help in the kitchens under heavy guard. She didn't say anything about her travels, everyone tried to carry on like they had before but many eyes lingered on her and her short hair. She could tell that Zeff wanted to talk to her but he couldn't under all her guards, so she tried not to think about him. She carried her head high and ignored everyone, pretending that she was back in her freedom.

XxxX

The dungeon cells were cold and slightly damp. Zoro could hear water trickling when he pressed his ear to the stone wall at his side. There wasn't exactly much to do, the cell was only large enough that he could lay down both ways and have his feet against the walls. He had no idea of where the others were, they were all kept apart.

He didn't know how long he had been in this place but it had been at least a few days. He had received several meals, none of them good. They were all clumpy portage and stale bread. Sanji somehow always managed to cook them good food. Sometimes he wondered if she wasn't some kind of food magician.

Sanji... Zoro wondered what they would do with her. Hopefully, they wouldn't kill her, but then she might prefer death to life as the Princess she had been intended to become.

While he waited, Zoro had tried to think of a way out but he could not think of a way to sneak through these bars. He was kicking those bars when a soft glow lit the cell. Zoro turned his head to find an arm sticking up form the floor of his cell. He jumped to his feet in alarm when he heard a voice.

"Are you Zoro?" the voice asked. It was low and female, coming from the direction of the hand. Before answering Zoro stepped toward the hand and got a closer look. It was hard to distinguish is it was male or female but it stuck straight up out of the floor. In the palm of the hand there was a mouth where he assumed the voice had come from. Zoro had seen a lot of strange things in his time, but this was just weird.

"Um, yes," he answered hesitantly.

"Do you wish to get out of that cell?" asked the hand.

"Yes." Why would he not want that?

"Do you want to rescue Lady Sanji?"

"If I didn't then I would had fought my way out before we were captured."

"That is very good." the hand said, sounding amused.

"Who are you?" Or maybe the better question would be what and not who.

"No one, for now, but we may meet at some point. Until then I have a plan and you are a part of it. Are you willing to participate?"

"Are the others involved as well?"

"They are."

"And we will be escaping with Sanji?" It felt strange to say her name out loud. "Nami too?"

"Nami too," the hand agreed.

"What are they planning to do with them?"

"Lady Nami will be married away when a match comes along. Lady Sanji will married to the Prince and as a wedding gift I expect she will receive your heads on an assortment of spikes. So, will you join my cause?"

"I will."

XxxX

A/N: Poor Sanji is in need of rescuing, I can only imagine how much she must loathe that. She should probably learn when to shut up though ^^

Aw, I like writing Robin as a mom, it's sweet.

Can Robin carry messages like this? I don't know, I stopped watching One Piece not long after Nami joined XD

Thanks.


	10. Chapter 10

The castle was filled with life. Wedding preparations were being carried out. Families from various houses were turning up at the royal city, thrilled for the ceremony that would increase the reach of the royal domain, because when it came down to is that's really all that mattered. The prince was marrying the woman who would give him the largest claim after all, a nice piece of eastern land.

The halls were beautifully decorated and the bushes in the gardens were clipped to perfection. A long blue wedding gown had been put together for Sanji as she sat locked away in her room. She couldn't stand it all, everywhere she looked there was some reminder of what she would have to do. All the time they had been fitting her for the dress she had made terrible faces, never when her maids were looking though. She knew it wasn't their fault so she wasn't difficult for them.

There was only one day left until the event and Sanji already felt sick. She hoped that she threw up all over her husband to be while they stood at the alter, wouldn't that be grand? All of this pain might have been worth it just for that one moment of glory, barf all over Sir Crocodile. If only she could make herself puke on command.

Sanji glanced out over the grounds and saw people bustling to and fro, everyone oh so busy. Sanji she half expected there to be a backlash against this wedding for the little Lord she had killed, but the the fishmen had never been well liked, no one dared defy the royal kingdom, and the murder had been spun as more of an accident than something of malicious nature. Some still said that she was a pointy toothed witch though, she wished she was a pointy toothed witch. Then she would save her friends and fly away from this fucking cell. She knew that somewhere below her feet they were stuck in little cages and that made it even harder to function. It was hard enough with all the looks Crocodile was giving her. It seemed that she had killed any chance of him not violently harming her as soon as she was his wife. She hadn't though his face could get any colder but it had. She hadn't been allowed to go to the kitchens as the wedding neared, apparently it reflected poorly on the kingdom when the Princess cooked like a servant. At least she got to spent a little time with Nami.

Sanji did not sleep that night, although she knew she had to be up for various events in the morning, as tradition dictated. She had a breakfast to attend, people to greet, a lunch to go to, the actual wedding ceremony, the dinner, and the bedding.

The bedding. Every time she though about it her chest felt tight and she thought she might suffocate. The bedding was the most important part of the wedding, that was how it was made authentic. An unconsummated wedding could be easily undone. She didn't want to think about it, not at all. She was pushing it down every time the thought occurred to her.

When morning came maids washed her and brushed her short hair, painting her face to hide any weariness. She was put into a long and very pretty yellow dress that made her feel far too bright for her sour mood. When she was ready she was dragged from her room and into the hall for breakfast. The meal was only attended by family members and those close to the King and Queen. The rulers of this fair land had returned to their home two nights past in order to see their son married. How wonderful, wasn't that so sweet?

Despite her inner turmoil, Sanji slipped easily into the facade of the happy soon to be bride. The meal seemed to go on and on forever, at least Robin was there. Nami was not but it was better than nothing. Robin at least kept giving her encouraging looks.

The meal seems to go on and on endlessly. No one talked of anything particularly interesting and they were all wanting to hear how excited she was about being married that afternoon. It was terribly dull. She smiled and laughed and blushed exactly when she was supposed to even when she was dying a little bit inside.

After breakfast she was allowed to walk around in the gardens with Nami. While they walked guards walked close to them. Not near enough to ease drop but close enough to catch them if they ran.

Sanji was staring longingly at one of the castle walls. "I wish I had spider powers," she sighed wistfully.

"I think super strength would be better in this case," Nami commented, "Then you could bust us out of here and save everyone."

Sanji nodded, "I would bust them out of their cells and carry them all out bridal style, it would be amazing. Instead I'm the one who's going to be carried bridal style to my doom."

Nami tried to look reassuring but it looked more pitying. "Maybe a meteoroid will crash into the castle."

"Maybe," Sanji said dismally.

"Whatever happens I'll still be here for you."

"But for how long? You're going to be sold off as soon as they can find someone for you."

She winced, "For as long as I can be and when I'm not here I will be in spirit."

Sanji sighed, "I'm going to need some divine intervention to get me out of this one."

It was a rather depressing walk and it didn't lift Sanji's spirits what so ever. Lunch was just as full of shit as breakfast had been but more people attended and more people fawned over how beautiful she looked, although they chastised her for cutting her hair.

As soon as lunch was finished with Sanji was bustled off to prepare for the ceremony. She was given another bath, her makeup was reapplied, her dress was laced so tight that she felt like she was stuck halfway inside a tube, and she waited. The wedding was at dusk, in light of the setting sun. The farther the sun sank in the sky so too did Sanji heart. And suddenly she found herself standing in the back of a cathedral. She would be married under the watch of one god, not the three that her people worshiped. The east had different marriage traditions.

Lady Robin stood at Sanji's side. It was traditional for the father to walk the bride down the isle but Sanji's father was dead and she had been allowed to choose anyone to walk with her so she had chosen Robin.

Sanji's stomach rolled and she wanted to fall down and go to sleep forever. If she did that though her friends would probably be killed. Maybe they were suffering a fate worse than death now, she did not know but she really hoped not.

"Head hight," Robin told her, putting a steady hand on her shoulder as music began to play. The two of them linked arms, waited for the cue and walked the lone isle, the train of Sanji's dress trailing behind them, to the Prince who was giving her the most sickly smile.

Robin moved away and Sanji was left to stand there, the focus of attention, every eye on her.

The priest began to read his words. Vows were exchanged, as well as rings. Two identical golden bands adorned their fingers, slid into place with careful hands. Sanji had to stop her hand from trembling, it was rage their were trembling with, not fear. Her fear was all but exhausted, now it was mostly resignation she felt. When they were bound they were called to kiss and seal the words.

Sir Crocodile pressed his lips to hers, they were warm and wet, it made her skin crawl when he did it, but it was soon over. She wasn't sure if the effect was due to the events in the desert or the fact that she had been kissed by him, but either way it was distasteful. And once again she was glad she had kissed Zoro, if she hadn't she might have thought all kisses were so horrible. But there it was, the deed was done and she was married. Now they were in the lull before they became truly wed. Again, her stomach gave a sickening lurch.

After the ceremony the crowd was ushered into the banquet hall where the feast began with Sanji and her new husband drinking spiced wine from their marriage goblet. A disgusting tradition, sharing a goblet with someone was not something Sanji had ever wanted to do, especially not with this man.

The dinner went on for an eternity and longer. People came up and told her endlessly how luck she was and her anxieties rose higher and higher as the night turned black. She ate very little at the feast and was sure that she looked as pale as the moon by the end. Nami kept giving her looks but she wasn't allowed to approach. They both knew that the bedding would come soon, everyone knew that. She had been to a few wedding and she had always found this particular tradition rather horrible. When enough time would pass someone would call for the bedding to take place. The bride and groom would both be dragged from the hall different ways. The groom by a horde of female guests and the bride by male guests. On the way they would lose their clothes before being dumped into a room to consummate the marriage, while the guests listened for proof. The men always seemed to enjoy the tradition more than the women. Sanji had seen enough terrified faces to know that much.

Sanji was tempted to drown herself with wine to make it easier, but then she thought she would rather stay clear headed and fight her way through. If not then she wanted the option of throwing herself from the window. And if she did end up in his bed she would be sure that the listeners wouldn't know she was not having a good time of it.

When the time actually came a majority of the guests were drunk.

"It's time for the bedding!" the king called out and was met by a roar of approval by the guests. Chanting began before people started to be pulled away by their groups. Sanji was clenching the table so hard that Robin had to remove her fingers. Sanji gave her a betrayed look as she was pulled into the crowd but Robin's expression was unreadable.

Sir Crocodile went out one door with his Ladies and Sanji was carried out another by the men. They were already groping at her when they were on the way out. Once they cleared the doors to the hall Sanji startled to struggle. There were at least ten men around her and they all wanted to tear off her clothes as they made their way toward the wedding bed.

She jerked her leg hard as one of the men took a a knife to the back of her tightly bound corset, allowing her a large gasp of breath, but it was only cut halfway down. They still had her legs from under her dress so she started to twist and kick. She did not cry out or some guard might come to drag her away. Some of them men were more drunk than others and she managed to trip them up when she squirmed but the sober ones held fast and she helplessly fought as they dragged her to her doom.

They were going down one of the halls further along. Sanji's dress was still mostly intact although some idiot had torn her left sleeve off as well as half the back of the dress, the only thing keeping her covered was her hand and the undamaged half of the corset that had yet to be torn off. Strips of the skirts had gone, leaving a trail of fabrics behind them. This march was going on for an eternity, but it was nearly at it's end.

She almost screamed as one of the men supporting her back fell, letting her dip dangerously toward the floor. She took it as an chance if lash out at the other surprised men. She kicked one in the face, causing him to stumbled back into another man and tumble to the floor. Once she had one leg free she kicked at the men at her other leg, they did not fall but did not look pleased at being kicked in the face. Her heart skipped a beat as she felt the while left side of her supporters fall with various cries of pain. She began to fall back but someone reached out to catcher her before she hit the ground. She was expecting arms and fabric but she felt hooves and fur.

She looked quickly over her shoulders and her eyes widened. "Chopper?" It was Chopper in one of his larger forms, he scooped her up just as the other side of the men were felled. Chopper set her back down as Zoro flicked the blood from the end of his katana, and it was his katana, the others were at his waist as well.

Sanji looked at the two of them carefully. They both looked slightly thin and dirty, probably from the dungeon. "How-?" she stammered.

"We'll explain later, now we have to go," Zoro told her, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her stumbling after Chopper who was already ahead of them. Running was hard in her stupid puffy dress and the corset wasn't quite cut low enough to let her lungs expand all the way. Luckily,  
they didn't have to run far. They stopped in a dark and empty hallway and Zoro shoved a tunic and breeches into her shaking hands.

"Put this on," he told her. They would be less conspicuous this way.

She took the clothes but then realized she would have to be taking off this multi layered and complex dress so she faltered. "You're going to have to cut me out of this," she told him. There was no way she could take it off quickly. Zoro made a face. "Don't worry, I do have underclothes on," she rolled her eyes.

Zoro drew his sword and cut the rest of her corset along with the many other layers of the fabric.

As he worked Chopper watched her worriedly. "Are you okay, Prince?" he asked, keeping the alias she had adopted. He seemed to be the only one who made the effort, that was sweet of him.

Sanji tried to smile reassuringly, "I'm just a little shaken up. I think at this point it probably doesn't matter if you call me Sanji," she decided.

Chopper opened his mouth but Zoro cut him off, "Whatever, wonder-brow," he scoffed as he tore through the last layer of the dressed, leaving her only in her slightly torn under clothes.

Sanji glared at him, shifting awkwardly as she took the new clothes and began to put them on. She was almost naked after all.

"We tried to come as fast as we could," Chopper was saying guiltily.

Sanji smiled, "I'm just glad not to have made my destination. How did you two escape, are the others out too?"

"We'll explain it later, now we have to go." Zoro put a knife into her hands, one that she hadn't noticed before. It wasn't hers but she recognized it as copy of one of her first knives. Maybe he got it from Franky, she thought distantly.

They started to run again, farther and farther from the hall and the bedding room. Sanji found the idea of Sir Crocodile sitting naked in the room waiting for her now incredibly amusing. She wouldn't want to be in the vicinity when it became apparent that she had ditched him.

They saw some people on their way but most were just servants or drunk guests. Sanji wasn't really paying attention to where they were going, she was just following, but eventually they turned up at the empty door.

The large doors to the portal were open and the guards where either unconscious or dead, it was hard to tell. Usopp was waiting for them, dead sheep at his feet and blood covering the stone door.

"Come on!" he squeaked, "The others are already inside."

They waked to the doorway and Chooper went through first. Sanji stood there for a second, so Zoro shoved her through. When Zoro came through Sanji kicked him in the stomach and he almost fell back though the door. Usopp was the last to come through.

They were in another door room, it was distantly familiar to Sanji as she looked around, but then all door rooms looked basically the same. Inside the room were Luffy, Usopp, and Nami.

"How did you all get here?" Sanji asked.

"These guys brought me," she beamed. Nami had left the hall earlier that evening, not wanting to see Sanji dragged out. She had only stepped into her room when someone jumped through the window and smacked against the wall beside the door. She had let out a muffed shout, but was confused to see that is was only a dark haired boy who had jumped though her window, despite it not being anywhere near ground level.

She had watched as Luffy picked himself up and put the straw had that had fallen to the ground beside him back on his head.

"Are you okay, Nami?" he asked, cocking his head as he observed her.

"I'm fine, why the hell did you come through the window?" she asked.

"Because I was outside," he said like it was obvious. "We have to go, Usopp is waiting for us." He pulled her out the door and down a hall where they met Usopp. Nami didn't know why Luffy had to come through the window when his friend was inside waiting for them but she decided that it was probably because he was an just idiot. She would have to punch him for that later.

They had run to the door, where Usopp had knocked out the guards with his slingshot and they were inside.

"We travel with a strange group of people," Nami said thoughtfully. "The question is, are you okay?"

All eyes were on her but she held her chin high and gave her honest answer, "I'm fine, where are we?"

"The East Blue," Usopp supplied.

Sanji felt her heart thump in her chest at that, but she pushed the thought aside. "How did you all get out?" she asked the boys.

"Robin," Zoro said, "We can explain that later. Now we have to take out the Lord of the castle." He was a man on a mission.

Sanji blinked. The Lord of this castle was a scumbag of a knight with a band of mercenaries to enforce his rule. That sounded like an amazing way to relieve some of her pent up agression. "Well, what are we waiting for then?"

They crept down the halls as silently as they could manage. Sanji felt like she was in some strange dream, she recognized these halls somewhere in the back of her mind. The way was shockingly empty, even suspiciously so. She wondered just how well laid out this plan was. If Robin had planned it then it must be completely fool proof, which was good because they were all a bunch of fools, minus Nami, of course. Nami was an angel of putting up with them.

They snuck toward what Sanji recognized as the Lord's hall. Chopper and Nami were told to hang back and stay out of the fighting. Nami could fight when she wanted to, Sanji knew as much, but she didn't much like risking her neck when she could avoid it.

When Zoro was about to open the door, Sanji kicked it open before him, knives clenched in her fists. The hall was filled with people, most looked to be advisors and such, rather unimportant but there were some mercenaries among them as well as the Lord himself, sitting in a makeshift throne at the end of the hall. Sanji was fairly sure he wasn't supposed to throne himself like a King, but that wasn't what was important right now.

"Give yourself up or we'll take you by force," Sanji shouted, her voice ringing through the suddenly silent hall, pointing toward the Lord in the throne

There was a pause before the Lord began to laugh, which prompted others to laugh with him. "Put that knife away, little girl, or I'll have to have one of my men cut your pretty face off."

Sanji had been slightly surprised when he called her a girl, forgetting that from the neck up she still looked ready for a wedding. Although, her hair was a mess.

"I'm no little girl and you're sitting in my chair," she said.

"Oh? And who do you think you are?" the Lord leered.

"Sanji of the house Black," she grinned wolfishly.

The Lord considered this for a moment before he snapped for one of his mercenaries to rise. "If you could please show Lady Sanji to a nice room in the dungeons."

The mercenary approached slowly, an ugly smirk on his ugly face. He didn't even bother to draw his axe. Sanji waited until he was close enough before she knocked his feet out from under him and stabbed through a gap in his chain mail. The hall erupted in chaos.

There weren't quite so many as Sanji had expected somehow. They were hired hands, so they knew how to fight. She may have caught one off guard, but now they wouldn't be fooled. People ran from the halls and were difficult to avoid, even when she did her best. It felt good to have steel in her hands after so much time without it, although as she held it she could feel the wedding ring pressing against the grip. She had almost forgotten about that, now she wasn't quite sure what to do with it. She would have to have the marriage undone at once then they would see what happened.

At her back Zoro stabbed a man in the eye and shoved him aside. They were both covered in blood. Luffy overturned a table on a set of people and at the back of the room Usopp was shooting arrows at mercenaries, then ducking out the doors again.

The number of enemies was dwindling and the bystanders were all gone. Sanji noticed that the Lord was still in his throne, clenching at the sides of the chair. He was either very stupid or he had far too much faith in his hired hands. None of her friends had touched him, although they could have quite easily if they had wanted to. She realized that they were saving him for her. This man was sitting in her chair, she had to fix it herself.

She charged toward the chair, ducking under a swinging sword and drawing out the unnamed knives at her side. The Lord opened his mouth to say something, there was fear in his eyes. She stuck a knife in his throat and drew it back. She watched the blood flow from the open gash. When had death become so familiar? When had she lost sensitivity to it? She was a different person now than she had been.

She pushed the body from the chair, but did not sit in his place. By right of birth this should have been her seat but she had been gone too long from this land and she was of the wrong gender. Once this might have been her chair, but that was in another life. She rejoined the fighting as a surge of people from outside joined their cause. By the end Sanji was exhausted and spattered with blood. Bodies were being dragged away and she was approached by a older man with an important looking countenance about him.

"Lady Sanji," he said with a stiff nod of his head.

She squinted at him, "Do I know you?"

"I was advisor to your father when he was the Lord here," the man told her. "It is good to see you back after so long, although I would have hoped to see you in a different state." He glanced down at her.

She couldn't blame him really, she looked quite the sight. A girl with short hair, smeared make up, in boys clothes, holding two knives she had just used to kill multiple people with, and still wearing the wedding ring to mark the marriage she had not consummated. She grinned at him none the less. "Before you say something important, can I ask to see a priest, I would like to fix this as soon as I can." She held up her hand and pointed to the ring.

His eyes widened slightly and and he called for a servant to fetch the high priest.

"We have much to talk about, my Lady," he told her when he turned back to face her. "Do you intend to take his place?" he said it with distaste, whether it was for her as a person or as a female she was unsure.

Sanji shook her head, "I don't know what I'll do, but not that." The people wouldn't accept her here. She may be a member of the last family that ruled this land, but she had been gone most of her life, this place was strangely unfamiliar to her after so long and the people wouldn't trust her not. They would probably think she had just been sent by the King to them. They probably wouldn't accept her as a woman either. She didn't want to rule anyway, but what would she do now? She would have to talk to Luffy about it.

The man looked both relieved and concerned at her words. "If not you then who will take the place of Lord here?"

"We can resolve this later." she said tiredly. She turned to Zoro who was standing not far from her. "So how did you guys get out?"

"That creepy lady with the black hair got us out," Zoro said.

"Robin, you said it was her before."

"Yeah, she used her freaky pedal arms to unlock the doors and bust us out. The blue haired guy gave me my swords back."

Sanji was very confused about the reference to 'pedal arms', but it made sense that Franky had been the one to take care of Zoro's swords, he did have a shop near the armory after all and Robin had always trusted him.

"What do you mean pedal arms?" she asked. As she said it a pale arm bloomed from the ground and waved at her. Sanji's eyes widened and looked to the doorway where she saw Robin and Franky standing. Franky was laughing at her shocked expression and Robin was giving her an amused smile. "What-?"

"Devils fruit," Robin said when she was close enough to be heard. The arm disappeared in a scatter of pedals.

"You kept it a secret?" Sanji asked, slightly hurt that she hadn't known something of this magnitude.

"I wanted to keep you safe and if anyone had known I wouldn't have been able to do that if anyone had known. I would have been dismissed."

"I wouldn't have told anyone."

"Maybe so, but some secrets are better kept until they are needed," Robin smiled. "I am very glad to see that you are okay." She tucked a strand of hair behind Sanji's ear with her real hand. Sanji was still a little angry, but she hugged her none the less. Luffy then announced it was a group hug and everyone was pulled in. It was an awkward and too tight mess, but it was full of sappy love and friendship.

When they were released the priest had shown up with a holy book in his hand. It was the book of the Eastern gods, but it would still work to break the marriage off legally. He told her to place her hand on the book, said some words, and it was done. The marriage was ended, a letter would be sent through the door to the royal city at once.

When it was done the ring was take from her finger. "What would you like done with this?" asked the advisor.

"You can sell it for all I care, I'm just glad to be rid of it."

"I'll take that," Nami said, plucking the ring from her hand. "Think of it as payment of everything you owe me.

"Good riddance," Sanji sighed happily.

"Well," Robin said as there was a lull in conversation, "It has been a thrilling night. I suggest that we all get some rest, it is very late."

The advisor nodded to her and called some people forward to take them to rooms for rest. Sanji suddenly found that she was dead on her feet, her energy had gone. The journey to the room was a haze but her room was separate from all the others. She was confused at first but then she stepped inside. It was the room she had grown up in, empty but still in its same form. The maid who had taken her there left, closing the door as Sanji walked to the window. The view was gorgeous even when it was so dark out, the moon reflected off the dark water and the stars twinkled in the sky. She allowed herself a little smile of content. For now she was happy; happy and very tired.

Despite the uncertainty of the future, Sanji flopped into bed, not even bothering to remove her bloody clothes. She fell asleep wondering what she should do next. That could wait until morning, at least.

XxxX

A/N: I'd never let Sanji marry that bastard :) I also wanted Sanji to not be saved like a damsel in distress so she got to kick some ass this chapter. Because she has larger testicles than all the dudes.

Thanks.


	11. I Am The Walrus

Yellow matter custard dripping from a dead dog's eye.  
Crabalocker fishwife pornographic priestess.  
Boy you been a naughty girl, you let your knickers down.  
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.  
I am the walrus, goo goo g' joob.

-"I Am The Walrus" The Beatles

XxxX

Sanji was staring up at the ceiling blankly, she was sore all over. At least she wasn't sore in the way she thought she might be twenty four hours ago, not post wedding night sore. She had slept well enough that night, but she had awoken early. She couldn't go back to sleep, her brain was too busy trying to figure out what she was going to do now even though her physical form was still exhausted.

She didn't want to stay here, Luffy still wanted to go to One Piece after all and she wasn't about to miss out on that adventure, but if she wasn't going to stay then who would she leave in charge? If there was anyone worthy of ruling they would have been put forth by the advisor, but even if there had been someone they would not be accepted by the other kingdoms if they were not of high birth. Highborns could be so fickle sometimes.

She wracked her brain for answers and found none, she wasn't so good at this sort of thing. She wished she could just give the land to some other Lord, but that would probably be insulting to these people. Or would it? The East Blue's closest ally was Alabasta and that land was close enough that East Blue could be easily incorporated. That wasn't a half bad idea actually.

She could hand off the land to Vivi and the people might actually thank her for it, although some might still be sour about a woman leading them. Gender presented another issue. By title the land of the land here should be hers, but Sanji, as a woman, was not allowed to claim land. Only her husband could take that land for her. Even if the people did accept her taking the land, the rest of the world would not and she would not be recognized, the transfer of land would not be taken seriously. She scoffed at that, imagining how insulted the Prince would be if she immediately turned around and married someone in order to sell a kingdom. She almost wanted to do it just for that.

She would have to talk to the advisor about this, but she would first talk with Robin. Robin had always had a knack for politics. Sanji thought out her plan more as the morning approached. The maids eventually called her to get ready and dressed her. They insisted on giving her girl clothes and for the sake of appearing presentable to these people she would have to be dealing with for the duration of their stay.

When Sanji went down for breakfast Robin and Franky were already there. They stopped talking when she walked through the door.

"Good morning, princess," Franky laughed.

"I believe that title is inappropriate now that she has broken the wedding vows," Robin said with a smile.

"Uh," Franky hesitated, "Good morning, my Lady then."

Sanji huffed at the fact that she was still a lady. "Good morning," she said with a soft sigh. There was food out on the table, but she didn't really want to eat until the others where there. Franky was already eating and Robin was nibbling at her food every now and then.

The others steadily streamed in, Luffy burst through the doors last, dressing in a horribly unsuitable Lord's suit. He looked absolutely ridiculous because the pants were too short and the outfit was much to large around the middle. His straw hat wasn't helping him look very Lordly either.

"Luffy, what the hell are you wearing?" Sanji groaned, face in her hands.

"It was in the closet, so I wanted to wear it." The boy grinned, tipping his straw hat to her before he threw himself at the table.

Breakfast was enjoyable, interacting with companions, new and old, had a different dynamic to it.

As Luffy sat back in his chair, thoroughly stuffed he voiced a thought. "How long do we have to stay here?" The question was directed at Sanji.

The blond blinked for a moment, taken aback by the seriousness of his tone. "Ah, some things need to be figured out first," she said uncertainly.

"Do you have an idea of what you want to do?" Robin enquired.

Sanji nodded, "Yes, I would like to talk with you about it later, if you would?"

"Very well," the dark haired woman nodded.

Sanji was given a few curious looks but no one asked anything further about her plans. If they needed to know she would have said something.

Before everyone wandered out of the hall, or in Luffy's case, was rolled out of the hall Sanji called to Robin's for advice. They went outside to walk along the beach as they talked. It was chilly but the smell of the sea made it worth the cold.

"I had an idea," Sanji began hesitantly, focused on a crab scurrying across the beach, rather than on the conversation at hand.

"On how you want to proceed with this land?" Robin raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," she paused, "How do you think the people would feel about becoming a part of Lady Vivi's kingdom?"

Robin's mouth twitched upward into a smile. "I don't think that they would be as adverse to her as they were to their last Lord," she chuckled, "How would you plan to make this happen?"

"Well, because I can't legally hold the land I would have to marry before I could pass it to the control of Vivi," she said.

"That would be true." Robin tilted her head to the side, thinking, "Who would you plan to marry for this purpose. You must be sure they would not betray you," she warned.

Sanji shifted nervously. "I'm not sure, I was hoping that you might have some advice on that front."

"Well," Robin hummed, "If it is just for the purpose of acquiring land you could marry just about anyone save a bound slave, or a royal guard, or anyone else not allowed to own land. Trust is the issue here. Whoever you would choose must be absolutely trustworthy, or things could go a rather unfortunate direction."

Sanji nodded, "I need time to think about this."

"Very well, but I recommend that you not take too long or the people may grow restless," the older woman advised.

When they went back to the castle Sanji went back up to her room and changed into boy clothes, then wandered down to the kitchen.

The cooks were hesitant to let her help make the meals, but after discovering that she had a knack for it they let her do what she would. They were good people here, not quite so rowdy as the group she had learned to cook with, but kind enough to make her welcome. She ate with them as well, she didn't want to go be a Lady again quite yet, she was still thinking about what she should be doing. She would have to suffer the consequences of her choice after all.

She drifted from the kitchen to the gardens. The weather was cold but not enough that she needed a cloak. The plants were different here than in the royal city, she knew, but they were all in the process of dying for the winter, if they weren't already dead. Leaves crunched beneath her feet as she rounded a corner that brought her into an open area. There she happened on Zoro sleeping under a tree, his swords across his lap. She did not hesitate to kick him awake, but he caught her foot as it neared his head.

"What the fuck is your problem?" he glared at her, not amused.

"Fight me," she replied, she had taken her knives with her and they were already drawn in her hands. She hadn't even realized she'd done that.

"Why?" Zoro huffed, "Aren't you still all beat up from last night?"

"No more than you are," she promised, "Fighting helps me clear my head."

Zoro rolled his eyes, but stood anyway, drawing two blades. He lunged first. She ducked out of the way, spinning to the right and making a jab for his side that he avoided and tried to jab her in the back with the grip of the sword. She rolled forward out of the way.

They continued their little dance until Zoro managed to knock her onto her back and pin her, her knives just out of reach. She hated when he won, there was almost nothing worst than defeat, especially defeat at the hands of Zoro. She glared at him over the gleaming edge of the metal. Such a compromising position, he could easily have cut her throat, but she knew he wouldn't. She trusted him not to. She trusted him.

Something strange must have appeared in her expression because Zoro scowled in confusion. "What?" he demanded, letting her arms free, but not moving off.

"Marry me," she said simply. He look shocked and slightly confused. She reached out her hands and managed to gain back her two knives. She could have easily stabbed him in the gut... or somewhere lower. It didn't seem to bother him because he ignored the steel in favor of her words.

"What are you talking about?" he asked in confusion. She sounded too serious to have said it just to throw him off.

"It's the perfect plan," she said, "I marry you and you get the rights to the lands so that you can give them to Vivi when I can't." It was even better that Zoro was a former slave, the royal family would be horrified that she ditched Sir Crocodile for a boy who was once a slave.

"Why can't you just give her the land?" Zoro asked, making a terrible face.

"Because I'm a girl, dumbass." She dropped her knives in favor of placing her hands on his shoulder. "You have to marry me and give it to her to make it legal. I hope you appreciate the amount of trust I'm putting in you, you could royally fuck this up if you betray me." She shoved him slightly.

"I haven't even agreed yet," Zoro objected, "I thought you'd never want to marry anyone after what happened."

"I don't really want to, but this is our best option, besides, I trust you," she said seriously.

"Will it be like your last wedding?" Zoro asked, thinking backing to Sanji being carried down the hall by a bunch of drunk men with distaste.

Sanji seemed to understand what he mean. "Not exactly, I can probably get them to leave out the bedding ceremony, but the wedding will need to be consummated for the deal to work." She shrugged awkwardly.

Zoro made a face. "So, we'll have to..."

"Yes," Sanji huffed, "It's unavoidable and awkward, but I'd rather not marry some Lord here, have him stick it in me, and be betrayed as well as stuck here."

"This is the best option?" Zoro sounded reluctant.

Sanji nodded. "I still have to propose the plan to the advisor, but I think it's the best we can do."

Zoro was quiet for a moment before letting out and irritated sound. "Fine, if this is what it takes, but I feel like I'm signing my soul away to a devil," he glared at her.

"You're supposed to be overjoyed at the prospect of marrying this gorgeous face." She gave him her best smile and gestured to her face.

The swordsman snorted as he stood up and heals out his hand for her. "Prepare to be disappointed."

"Don't worry," Sanji assured him, taking his hand and letting him pull her up. "I have very low expectations for you as a husband," she snickered. "But I'd rather marry you than some stupid fucking Lord, so there you go."

XxxX

Sanji made the enquiry about her plan with the advisor that evening. He frowned when she mentioned that Zoro was a former slave, but he seemed to accept her idea and requested that they act as quickly as possible. He did say that they shouldn't flaunt that mark on Zoro's neck though. That was probably for the best.

Sanji walked away from the exchange feeling rather proud of herself for thinking of it on her own. If only she didn't have to marry Zoro. Fuck, how was she going to explain this to everyone.

Her chance came that night at dinner. Everyone was eating when Sanji slammed her cup against the table a little too hard. The eyes of the rest of the group turned on her, anticipating that she had something to say. Robin had a little smile on her face and Zoro's expression was unreadable.

"I have a plan," Sanji started, "To get us moving along the way."

"What is it? You sound nervous," Nami said suspiciously.

"It's a good plan," Sanji laughed nervously, "I'm going to give East Blue to Vivi.

"But you can't do that," Nami pointed out.

"I can't," Sanji agreed, "But my husband can, which is why I'm going to marry Zoro."

There was a best of silence before the roar of noise broke over the hall. Robin looked amused, Chopper looked confused, Nami looked shocked but that look quickly became a smirk, Usopp was laughing so hard he fell out of his chair, Franky gave a sly look to Zoro who ignored it because he was gritting his teeth and trying not to stab someone.

"Seriously!?" Nami finally said, toning down the noise.

"Yep," Sanji nodded, "It's the best idea I could think of."

"And how does Zoro feel about all this?" Nami chuckled, leaning toward the swordsman.

Zoro glared at her evilly, "Bite me, witch."

"Don't talk to Nami like that, marimo!" Sanji shouted, flinging a spoon at him. It hit him in the cheek with a dull smacking sound.

"This is going to go so well," Nami grinned as Zoro and Sanji started to fight. After the news of Sanji and Zoro's engagement was heard and accepted things pretty much returned to their normal state of chaos.

When they all went their separate ways after the meal things felt almost the same as they felt before all of this, but they needed to get through with this wedding as fast as possible. In this case, as fast as possible meant as soon as they could get Vivi to East Blue. They couldn't go through with this without her consent and if she was physically there, at the wedding it would make things even better. A message was sent through the linking door to her presenting the idea, marked as urgent.

They received a reply that next morning of the Lady's acceptance of the proposal. They had sent a date with the letter should she choose to accept and she said that it was acceptable. Sanji would be married in a three weeks, not long at all. It would take her a fortnight to set everything up for her travel and arrival, then she would spend a week staying on the islands. Other invitations were sent out to allies, but they kept the list relatively small just incase someone wouldn't want this union to take place.

It wasn't quite the same as the set up for her last wedding. This one would be far humbler, given that the amount of gold spend was to be kept limited. Sanji mostly left Robin to take care of the plans, she was better with it anyway. Sanji actually tried to avoid the wedding set up as much as possible, but unfortunately it was insisted that she could not be wed in boy's clothes, she had to wear an actual wedding dress. This one was far less stuffy than the last, lighter in weight and color. It made her feel elegant, but in a princess sort of way, not in a fighter sort of way; she preferred the fighter way but maybe she might let herself feel pretty if things went well. Maybe.

When she wasn't doing diplomatic things she was helping in the kitchens. The people genuinely seemed to like her and it gave her a chance to use her mother tongue again.

Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that Zoro seemed to be avoiding her, she saw him at meals, but other than that she only glanced him sometimes while walking around. Things were a little... awkward with them to say the least. She knew that he was being fitted with wedding clothes as well and being coached on what to do. She tried not to think about him too much, she would rather focus on whatever task she had at hand and not on the effect this would have on their relationship. Even referring to it as a relationship sounded weird.

XxxX

The day Vivi arrived was hectic. Her ship came across a day earlier than expected. They had the accommodations for her, but everything was rather scattered. When she stepped onto land Sanji met her, joined by a crowd of dull advisors.

"Lady Sanji," Vivi greeted her as they met. "It is good to see you again."

"You too," Sanji nodded.

"I supposed congratulations are in order," Vivi laughed.

Sanji shuffled her feet, it never ceased to be awkward when people congratulated her on her engagement. "Thank you, my Lady."

"I'm assuming they know now," she chuckled, thinking back to Sanji heading her gender.

Sanji snorted, "All too well."

"And did they treat you differently?" Vivi enquired.

"Of course not," Sanji smiled softly.

"I told you they wouldn't."

"I know."

"So, how did they find out?"

"I'll tell you later," Sanji decided, "Right now the others want to see you." She lead Vivi up to the castle, where Luffy and the others waited to pounce on the blue haired girl.

Vivi spent most of her week appealing to the people of East Blue through all manner of methods. She went on long walks through the city, she went to help some of those in need, and she rubbed shoulders with all the Lords and boot lickers who hung around the castle. She had to kindle her aura of trust. Sure people liked her, but they just might need a reminder of how much they liked her. The endeavor seemed to have worked well, the people seemed generally appeased my her presence. Hopefully they would uphold that feeling.

When she wasn't pandering to the needs of the people she was hanging out with the crew. Sanji caught her up on everything that had happened to them along their way and the others filled her in on everything she missed. Vivi's presence was a wonderful thing and they savored it while they could, but soon the week came to it's end and suddenly it was the day of the wedding.

Sanji woke early that morning, as she usually did, and went down to the kitchens to make breakfast with the cooks. She still had tedious meals to go to, as she had with her last wedding, but at least today she would get to cook the meal first.

The time in the kitchen went far too quickly and she had to run up to her room to be dressed for meeting with all of her guests at breakfast. At least her friends were there this time. During the meal they kept things interesting, and Sanji thought they might scare some of the more stuck up guests, but they were relatively well behaved. Sanji had to do a lot of talking during the meal because whenever someone asked Zoro something he would reply with clipped sentences and glare, so she tried not to let people talk to him. He was trying to be civil, just not very well succeeding. Vivi also did a lot of talking, which actually saved Sanji from being completely overwhelmed.

The whole day was a blur of people, and fancy dresses, and perfect manners. It hardly seemed any time at all before it was half an hour until the blond was set to marry once again, and Sanji was fidgeting with her smooth blue dress anxiously.

She was already all dressed up, a beautiful wife to be. She felt nervous, but a different sort of nervousness than she had at her last wedding. This was more of a flutter than a merciless torrent of despair. Sanji had told the servants to leave her alone for a while so she could have time to think. She still wasn't sure how to feel about any of this.

Sanji looked up when she heard the a knock on the door. She walked over and opened it to see Zoro standing there all dressed up and shifting from foot to foot. Sanji stepped aside to let him in, not saying a word. This was probably against some rule, the bride and groom meeting before their ceremony, but she didn't really care. After he had stepped through the threshold she shut the door behind him.

Zoro eyed her wearily. "You look... weird," he decided.

Sanji snorted, "Wow, don't you just know how to make a girl feel good on her wedding night."

Zoro glared at her. "I didn't say you weren't pretty, it just doesn't suit you."

Sanji stopped at that. "What do you mean?"

"It's just weird with you all dressed up like that with your face painted, you look like some kind of doll," he made a face, "I'd rather marry you in breeches and a tunic."

Sanji's heart swelled slightly at that. "God dammit, that's actually kind of sweet. Don't do that, it doesn't suit you." She crossed her arms and turned away from him in a huff. Trying to hide the fact that her face was turning red. "Neither does that outfit." He also looked weird in his fancy clothes. They made him look handsome, but something about it just seemed off, she expected that he was probably experiencing the same thing.

Zoro rolled his eyes. "Well, I didn't come here to talk about wardrobe."

"Why did you come here?" she asked.

"I have a wedding present."

Sanji was stunned, "A what?"

"A wedding present." He drew up the bag he had around his shoulder and held it out to her. She took it, noticing the weight it held.

"You didn't have to," she said, "This isn't really a real wedding. I mean it is, but, well, you know."

"Shut up, just look at it," Zoro said in his grouchy way.

Sanji unfolded the bad and pulled back the leather. Inside gleamed the hilts of two daggers. Her eyes widened as she set the bag on her bed and held them in her hands. They were both beautifully crafted, smooth and steel, cold to the touch. She drew one from its sheath and was surprised to see that the blade curved back and forth like a flame. A kris blade. Sanji gaped at it. She was at a loss for words.

"You better appreciate those fucking things, I spent my every waking hour trying to get them done in time," Zoro grumbled.

"You made these in only a month!?" She knew he was good but still.

"Yeah, it was a fucking pain in the ass." Zoro glared at the weapons.

"Then why did you make them?" Sanji asked, drawing her eyes up to him.

He held her eye contact. "Because you lost yours and they weren't proper knives in the first place, there are better."

Sanji felt her heart rise in her throat. "Thank you," she croaked.

"You aren't going to cry are you?" He looked very uncomfortable.

Sanji sent him an irritated look. "No! I'm not you asshole, I'm just fucking grateful. Can't you be civil for longer than two fucking seconds?"

"Fine. I was just asking."

Sanji glared at him then turned her gaze back to the blades. It seemed a shame not to have them with her while she married him. She went to her closet and dug around until she had a belt to put them in. She smiled as she she tightened the belt and felt the weight of the weapons.

Zoro gave her a quizzical look. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think that's traditional wedding attire."

"Nope," Sanji grinned, "I've followed all the other rules, so I think it's fine if I break this one. Besides, I might need to stab someone."

"Hopefully not me," Zoro said, looking at the blades.

"I wouldn't stab you, you just gave me the best present I've literally ever received," she smiled as warmly as she ever had at him.

"It was just-"

"Shut up, thank you. Now you have to leave." She shoved him toward the door. "We're getting married in less than an hour." And he was gone.

The maids returned not long after to bring her to the hall where she would be wed. As the music started to play Sanji walked down toward the center of the room to stand in front of the priest. Holy fuck, this was actually happening.

Zoro watched her walk with an even gaze. He felt... anxious. He wasn't sure quite how he should feel about this development. Sure, he understood that it was their best option but it still seemed a little weird. Everything about this place was weird. Sanji was weird here. She had to actually act like a lady, he didn't like it. For whatever reason watching her act all nice and polite got under his skin. She had to play up the pretty little girl act in order to get things done and that was kind of bullshit. She did it well though, she was very pretty. She made a pretty boy and an even prettier girl, especially with her pretty painted face, although it made her look fake. The really weird thing was that her eyebrows were only just starting to retain their natural form. Before, when they were shaved, it was so weird he hat to keep himself from staring. Something just didn't feel right about it.

Despite all the oddness of the situation, it was happening. He could see her step up beside him, giving him an unreadable look as the priest started to ramble on about a bunch of ceremonial stuff.

He wondered what she was thinking right now. How did she feel about this? He certainly didn't know how to feel.

The priest continued to ramble until Sanji turned to Zoro and slid the simple ring onto his finger, he did the same to her. The rings were only simple bands, neither of them had wanted anything particularly fancy, so plain metal seemed the best option. Zoro wondered what they would do with them after they were gone from this place. Probably give them to Nami to sell, Nami would know what to do with them.

Next came the vows, they were in the middle of reciting the vows when the doors were shoved open and an angry Sir Crocidile stormed in. He was spattered with blood that was not his, so it was to be expected that he had killed the guards around the door.

His cold eyes were drawn straight to Sanji and Zoro in the middle of the room. "You!" he snarled, jabbing a finger at Sanji. It appeared that news of the wedding had reached the royal kingdom after all, they had done their best to not draw too much attention.

No one said anything as the Prince began to walk down the length of the isle. Some of the guards got up to stop him, but in a flash they were all cut down. That was very strange. They had been struck down by what appeared to be sand. Sand flurried around the feet of the furious Sir Crocodile as he continued to step forward. It was like magic, or rather a devils fruit ability; there wasn't a sort of magic like that as far as Sanji knew but she didn't know much about magic. Apparently, the Prince had kept this ability to himself, it was always nice to have the advantage of surprise when fighting.

Sanji felt a few grains of sand rake across her face as they few through the air, but she waited for him to approach.

"I will have you one chance, girl," he held up one finger, "Come with me or I will kill your friends and drag you back with me."

"You would kill them if I resisted or not," Sanji said as coolly as she could manage. She could sense Zoro's tension beside her and it seemed the the whole room was holding its breath.

"It will be more painful for everyone if you refuse to come," he grit out.

"I refuse," Sanji said, holding his gaze. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we have a wedding to proceed with." She took Zoro's hand and held it in hers. She felt him twitch, but he did not resist.

The fury on Crocodile's face was unmatched by any Sanji had ever seen. He looked ready to cut her open and pull out her guts while she still lived. He took a single step forward and a second later a fist hit his face and he slammed into the wall on the other side of the room.

Sanji blinked as Luffy's arm bounced back to it's original form.

Luffy had landed a hard blow to the center of the Prince's chest, denting him hurtling into the hard stone as his back. As he hit the wall, his head slammed back with an audible crack. He was out cold.

There was a sudden silence in the chaos as people looked upon their unconscious Prince. Someone had to decide what was to be done next. They couldn't kill him, they would have the wrath of the royal kingdom upon them. They had to send him back home. That would insult him, but the crown would no longer be out for revenge.

"We have to send him back through the door," Sanji spoke up through a bubble of hysterical laughter. She commanded some guards to take him away, Crocodile was dragged out if the and someone brought the priest forward once again. The vows were completed and they sealed the words with a short kiss that tasted of relief.

They still had the feast afterward, it was part victory feast and part wedding celebration.

The night was quickly coming to a close and Sanj was feeling drained. Robin was the one who ended the festivities for her.

"I believe there is one last thing that must be done tonight," the woman said with a smirk on her lips. Sanji was confused for a second than realized what she was talking about as her eyes went to Zoro, who appeared to be drowning himself in alcohol and laughing with Luffy.

Sanji felt her stomach flip nervously and her face heat up.

"Go on," Robin urged her to her feet. Sanji stood and beg and to walk toward him. She placed a hand on his shoulder when she was within range. He looked up at her confused.

She didn't look at him. "One last thing to do," she mumbled. Zoro's face read as 'oh' and he stood with her. They moved inconspicuously toward the door, not wanting to draw attention, although she could feel eyes on them. As she was stepping out she heard a cat call and somehow suspected that the sound was Franky's doing. They went to the designated room. The room Sanji had slept in as a child. That was very strange, but eventually the door had closed behind them and they were alone.

Sanji sat on the edge of the bed, fidgeting. Zoro was looking at her like she was supposed to tell him what to do.

She let out a frustrated sigh, "We are being ridiculous!" she announced as she removed the belt holding the daggers and set it on her wardrobe. She kicked off her shoes as well and folder her legs underneath her. "Stop looking at me like that." She glared at him.

"Like what?"

"Like you're worried I might stab you in the gut if you get too close. I'm not even armed, get over here," she ordered.

He sat down next to her. "I can't help it, it's a legitimate worry."

Sanji rolled her eyes. "I promise I won't stab you so you can relax." Although, she was just as unrelaxed as he was.

"So, how should we..." Zoro started.

Sanji groaned, "Ugh, asking just makes it more awkward."

"Well, neither of us is making the first move, so I just thought I'd ask."

"Well, it's not like you haven't kissed me before," she pointed out.

He made a face. "You kissed me and I wasn't ready for it. Plus, it was under completely different circumstances."

"You've also already seen me half naked."

"You've seen me fully naked."

He had a point there. "The situation is different now." She said.

"It is."

"So, I guess we should just-" she was stopped by Zoro's mouth on hers. She was rather glad of that, she wasn't sure how much more of that awkward talking she could take. This kiss was different than all the others she'd had. His lips moved warm and soft against hers, his hands rested lightly on her rib cage. She slid her hands into his soft green hair, humming as his hands slid down her sides.

Then she remember she was still wearing the stupid, fancy corset she had been tied up in. He would never be able to get that fucking thing off of her. It was far too complicated for his simple mind. She pushed him back for a moment.

"Hang on," she said, more out of breath than she'd realized. She grabbed one of the knives he had made her and started to cut away the laces, it would be faster than untying it.

Zoro laughed as she tried to cut the lacing without stabbing herself in the back until he took pity on her and took the dagger. In one smooth motion he cut through the laces and she was breathing freely again.

"You're lucky you've never had to wear one of these things," she said throwing it on the ground angrily.

"I don't think I would make me look very good," Zoro said, eyeing the garment with distain.

Sanji snorted, "No, I don't think so either."

"I thought, as my wife you were supposed to tell me I'm beautiful."

"No, as my husband you're supposed to tell me I'm beautiful. I'm just supposed to look pretty, keep my mouth shut, and let you fuck me."

Zoro winced at that as it did somewhat apply to their current situation. "This is kind of fucked up, isn't it?"

Sanji nodded, "Yeah, a little but we don't have another choice, do we?"

"Are you sure of that?"

"Pretty sure," she said, "Don't look so dejected. I did choose you out of all the other guys around here I could have picked. That's basically me saying if I had to have sex with anyone it would be you."

"You shouldn't have to have sex with anyone."

"True, but I believe the correct response would have been 'wow, I feel so privileged that you have given me this honor. Blah blah blah sappy romantic stuff'."

"Fine," Zoro rolled his eyes, "If I had to have sex with anyone it would be you too."

"But now I can't tell if you're being honest or if you're just trying to make me happy," she said, letting faulse insecurity color her tone.

"I never strive to make you happy and I don't lie," Zoro shrugged.

"Well then, I guess we have some land to take ownership of, eh, marimo?" She gave him a suggestive look.

"Don't say it like that-" And this time Sanji kissed him into silence, trying not to laugh too hard. Maybe this wouldn't be quite so difficult after all.

XxxX

A/N: *internally crying* romance is icky and weird. Why the heck did I think this was a good idea? It's so awkward. Kind of amusing though.

Also, fuck the one at a time chivalrous fighting. The only way I could thing to take Crocodile down was to punch him out. And I didn't know much about people's abilities, so if I messed something up let's just pretend that in this universe things are different.

Thanks.


	12. Live By The Ocean

I want to live by the sea,  
Live by the ocean.  
Though I start over again,  
I'll never change where I come from.  
Loss of my momentum,  
Set me in motion,  
My heart and soul were for free,  
But nobody would take them.

-"Live by the Ocean" The Hoosiers

XxxX

Sanji was laying on her back, staring up at the ceiling and thinking. Another step accomplished in the master plan. It had been... interesting to say the least. Not quite so unpleasant as she had expected.

Beside her Zoro was still asleep which wasn't surprising, he always seemed to spend too much of his time sleeping. Sanji's eyes drifted over to him. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about him, their relationship was rather odd. She liked him well enough when she wasn't trying to kick his stupid face in and he did have a handsome face, but she was unwilling to admit that she might- might- like him. Just a little bit, a tiny part of her might like him. That was it, defiantly nothing else... She wasn't sure what exactly would happen to their marriage after they left this place, probably nothing, but then again this wasn't just something easily forgotten.

She reached out a hand and poked his cheek, he didn't react. A heavy sleeper, she remembered. She felt a warmth rise in her chest as she looked at him, she was so glad that she picked him for this or it might have gone horribly wrong. She leaned over and kissed his cheek, then he stirred but only to drag her closer to him.

Sanji frowned, she could see that it was time to get up. She was slightly unwilling to get out of bed and go downstairs just because she knew that everyone was going to tease them to death after last night, but they had to get up at some point. Sanji pinched his cheek hard enough that his eyes flicked open to glare at her.

"Now, I know that's not how you're supposed to wake your husband up," he grumbled, shoving her hand away.

"An how am I supposed to wake my husband?" she wondered.

He leaned forward and pressed their lips together, softly. It felt very intimate and pleasant. Weirdly so.

"I want to get up, not be stuck in bed all day," she breathed.

Zoro made a face, "It's still early, why the hell would you want to get up now?"

"I want to go help in the kitchens this morning," the blond told him.

"Then get up and don't bother me," he complained.

Sanji rolled her eyes, "Well, I'm going to call for a bath." She shoved aside his arms and rolled out of bed, quickly dressing she hurried off to call on a maid. Her modesty was probably unnecessary, but it made her feel safe all the same. She sat on the edge of her- their bed while she waited for the maids to fill the tub. When it was done she dismissed them and tested the water. It was warm.

She shrugged out of her clothes and slipped into the water to wash all the grossness from last night off her body. Zoro probably wasn't in any better a state than she was. She picked up a hairbrush near the tub and threw it at his head, it met it mark.

"What?" He grumbled, turning her way.

"You should get a bath too," she told him, "You're all gross."

"What, take a bath with a pervert like you?" he shook his head in disgust.

"Shut up, I'm your wife, this is a thing people do. There's enough room and the water will get cold if you wait," she scolded him.

He sighed, stumbled out of bed and into the tub, glaring at her all the while.

"Very good," she said like she was talking to a child and started scrubbing soap into his hair, also like a child. He didn't seem to appreciate it, but he didn't object either. Maybe this was the power of being a wife at work. Maybe now she had a level of control over him, she liked that idea.

The bath went about as well as it could be expected, in that at one point Sanji did try to drown the green haired idiot in bath water for being stupid as well as difficult before remembering that she still actually needed him to continue on with the plan. He was lucky she still had a use for him.

Before she left, Zoro caught her by the arm. "Are we going to be all weird about this when everyone else is around?" he asked.

She shrugged, "Maybe, I'll try not to be if you do."

"Let's swear to it," he suggested.

Sanji nodded, raising her right hand. "I, Sanji Black, to hereby swear to not be awkward around you when I can avoid it."

Zoro mirrored her pose. "I, Zoro Roronoa, swear to do the same thing you said."

Sanji blinked. "Your family name is Roronoa?"

"Yeah," he shrugged, it's not like anyone had ever bothered to day it.

"Fuck, your name is a mouth full. There are far too many r's and way too many o's. Zoro Roronoa. I can say the first name but the rest just sounds like gibberish," Sanji laughed.

"That's because you have to enunciate," Zoro said, emphasizing his words so they took on less of his accent.

"Zoro Roronoa. There, I fucking tried, it's too hard. I'm not taking that last name, it's too nonsensical. It sounds like you drool out the last part," she huffed.

"Well, no one asked you to take it," Zoro said indignantly.

"Good, because I would have said no."

Zoro glared at her. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

"I do," she said, quickly moving to give him a patronizing kiss on the cheek. "Later, marimo," she said, winking, and flitted out the door, away from the mean look he was giving her.

"I'm your husband, you're supposed to kiss me on the mouth," she heard him grumble before she was gone.

She left in the direction of the kitchens. No one was really up yet, she had gotten up extra early for her bath, so she didn't worry about seeing anyone. The kitchen staff was there though and they giggled at her while she worked, but she tried to ignore it. She went out to eat with her friends Nami was waiting to ambush her outside the kitchen doors.

"How was it?" she asked with a smirk.

Sanji made a face, "I don't want to talk about this."

"On a scale of good to bad, how was it?"

"Not as bad as I thought it would be," she said hesitantly.

"So, good?"

"I guess."

Nami started giggling, "Robin told me to give you this." She held out a cup to Sanji.

The older girl took the cup hesitantly, "What is it?" she asked.

"It's a tea, but it'll stop you from getting pregnant," Nami told her.

"Oh," Sanji said simply. That was good, she didn't want to end up pregnant no matter how much she might like or dislike the marimo. So, she downed the cup quickly, it wasn't very nice tasting, but it was useful.

Once the tea was gone the two girls walked into the dining room. Robin, Franky, and Chopper were already there. Sanji helped set out the food, ignoring the looks that she was getting. She went to wake the other up because apparently no one else was going to, and threatening them with violence if they didn't come down.

When Zoro walked in Franky started laughing aloud. Sanji could feel her face was already on fire. "Was it super?" he asked loudly. Sanji wanted to throttle him.

Zoro made an uncaring face and shrugged. "Eh, it probably would have been better if she wasn't such a spiteful bitch."

"Shut the fuck up, you asshole." Sanji shoved his chair with her foot and it fell backward as he went down laughing.

Things didn't seem so tense after that. There were jokes of course but they seemed more funny rather than embarrassing now. She could get use to it.

The rest of the day went along as it usually would have, there would be a delay in transferring the land in order to let things settle down, so they were in a bit of a lull until then.

When the day was at it's end Sanji went up to her room to retire for the night, wondering if Zoro would be there. He was supposed to share the room with her from now until they left but she wasn't sure that he actually would. When she walked insides he wasn't there so she pushed him to the back of her mind and carried on getting dressed for bed.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when the door opened. Thankfully, the was already dressed and had just sat down. Zoro was standing in the doorway looking like he didn't know what to do with himself.

"I was told I had to sleep here," he explained.

"Yeah, it kind of goes with the whole marriage thing," Sanji pointed out.

Zoro walked farther in, shutting the door behind him.

"The maids have already brought your things in here so you can just get ready like you usually would," Sanji said lightly.

Zoro nodded, but made no move toward the wardrobe, instead he pulled his shirt over his head and kicked off his boots. He then proceeded to make himself at home on Sanji's bed next to her.

"So, how is this going to work?" Zoro asked, staring up at the ceiling.

"What do you mean?"

"This," Zoro gestured at them both, "How do we function behind closed doors?"

"I don't know, how do you want to function?"

"How do you want to function?"

Sanji huffed, apparently she was going to have to be the grown up one. "Well," she started, "I suppose that we could carry on as husband and wife if you really wanted to," she said, not looking at him.

He seemed surprised by that. "Really?"

"Yes, really. I mean, I don't hate you and I don't hate being physically close to you, so it seems like it would be okay to carry on like that," Sanji's said, examining her fingernails thoroughly.

"Hang on, are you actually proposing a legitimate relationship," Zoro laughed.

"Don't laugh, moss head, yes I am. So either say yes or no," she said angrily.

"Well, who and I to oppose the wishes of a proper Lady," Zoro snorted, "So, if you're my proper wife now does that mean I can do this?" He reached out and put his hand over her right breast.

Sanji's looked altogether unimpressed by Zoro's childish redaction. "Only if I can do this," she said, kicking him hard enough to make him tumble out of the bed.

He hit the ground with a soft thud. "Fair enough," he said as he reclaimed his spot on the bed, "I think we will get along just fine," he grinned.

"Good, I'm glad that's settled then," Sanji grinned back, before leaning over to put out the light in the room and shoving the covers back for sleep. In the dark a sting arm wrapped around her. She stifled a laugh, "I wouldn't have taken you for the cuddly type, marimo."

"Shut up, this is a proper relationship now, so someone had to make the first move," he grumbled.

"If you say so," she snorted, "Don't let me stop you." And she fell asleep with a smile on her lips.

XxxX

The land was transferred two days after the wedding. There was long, boring ceremony out in the city and the people seemed to receive the news well. Unfortunately, the royal family was not so pleased and when the land was transferred war was declared on Lady Vivi. This came as no surprise, but Sanji still felt terrible for it. Vivi would not tolerate her apologies, which was rather frustrating. She insisted that war would have come one way or another anyway, relations had never been very good between her people and the royal family, they didn't like her ruling over any land unmarried.

Only three days after that they were set to leave. They were still set to go to the city of One Piece. Robin was the one who had decided on their method of travel. They would take the linking door to the ruined city. The door went to the burned remains of what was once a city, it was in the middle of a forest that was supposed to be haunted and it was a fairly long walk to the next city but it was as close as they could safely get to their destination. Unfortunately, they could not bring horses through, but horses wouldn't survive long in that land anyway, there was little to no grass they could have eaten.

Soon enough they stood in front of the door, the smell of sheep's blood hanging in the air, and they were saying goodbye to Vivi once again.

"It has been wonderful to see you all again." The Lady said, half wishing she could go with them. She gave a little wave before she was swept up in a crowd of hugs. There were a few seconds of bone crushing squeezing before she was released.

Each person stepped through the door after a pause. Sanji was the last through and she nodded her thanks as she disappeared through the nothingness.

She stepped out into the middle of a pile of rubble. The floor was cut stone but it was covered in a layer of dirt and all around there were piles of crushed stone. The ruined city in all of it's glory. It would be a maze to get out of this place what with the towers if rubble. Nami had climbed halfway up onto one of the rock piles, trying to see which way would get them out faster.

"We should go that way," Nami pointed to their left, as it was the clearest path out.

The group followed her direction toward the start of a spindly looking sea of trees. It didn't take too long to get out of the ruined castle, the thing was a sad sight. The air around them felt cold and damp as the emerged from the rubble.

"This forest is supposed to be haunted," Robin said cheerfully as they stood in front of the woods.

"Psh, I'm not afraid," Usopp said bravely, despite his shaking knees.

"Then why don't you go first?" Zoro asked pointedly.

Usopp laughed nervously, "The great Usopp does not have to prove his bravery to the likes of you."

"Then go," Zoro nodded to the forest.

"Fine, I will," the bandit boy said uncertainly. He eyed the trees nervously before lifting a foot and stepping into the shade of the trees. He took another step and he was inside. "I did it!" he said proudly."

"You're so cool, Usopp!" Luffy laughed, running into the woods after him.

"Get back here, you idiots!" Nami yelled, "You're going the wrong way!"

This place was at the edge of the dead zone around One Piece. The trees were weak and spindly, the grass thin and frail. The whole place had a very dead feel to it and the wind was constantly pulling at their clothes. It wasn't freezing out, but it wasn't comfortable and it felt like rain.

They spent the day walking, it was hard to start after so long of being kept away in castles. They would all have blisters in no time. With Franky and Robin there it put an interesting spin on things. Sanji felt she ought to behave more under Robin's watchful eye, but that didn't always happen. Especially when Zoro was being a total jerk, and her was always being a total jerk.

Zoro and Sanji were walking at the back of the group.

"What should we do with these rings?" Zoro asked, flicking his wedding ring into the air like a coin.

"I don't know," Sanji shrugged, "We should probably keep them in case we're in one of the kingdoms or something."

"Do I have to wear it?"

"I don't care, just don't lose it."

"It's probably just going to get taken by some scumbag pickpocket, or Nami."

Sanji glared at him, "Then just keep it until it gets stolen. What do I care?"

"You're my wife, you're supposed to care."

"Yeah, well, I don't."

"Give that to me, you idiot," Nami broke it, making a grab for the ring, but Zoro moved it out of her reach.

"Did you see that," Zoro turned to Sanji, "She just hijacked the symbol of our eternal union."

"Just because you don't have the ring doesn't mean you aren't married to me anymore, so don't even think about running off to buy a whore," Sanji rolled her eyes.

"Where would I even find a whore out here?"

"The rare forest whores?" Nami suggest.

"I believe they prefer the term woodland foxes," Sanji told her.

"I wouldn't even have the money to pay a whore," Zoro scoffed.

"A whore wouldn't take you no matter how much you paid her, she'd be too freaked out by your green hair," Sanji said, making a grab for Zoro's hair but missing.

"Yeah, well what does that say about you then?"

"I'm obviously a little insane, but I don't think that would come as a surprise to anyone," Sanji sniffed.

"You're both insane," Nami told them, rushing off ahead of them.

Sanji glanced down at her ring as she left and noticed that it wasn't there at all. She looked back up and Nami was grinning at her, both rings in hands.

"I sear she's a witch," Zoro said, glaring at Nami.

"Don't be mean to Nami, she's an angel," Sanji kicked him.

"A harpy maybe," Zoro countered and soon they had devolved into fighting.

The day moved by slowly and when night fell the group split off to forage for kindling for the fire as well as any food items they could find.

Sanji was off in the woods, not far from the place they had decided would be their little base. She was assigned to collecting fire wood, because it looked like it would rain soon. She knelt to pick up a stick when she heard something off to her right. Her head twitched up toward the sound. She didn't see anything at first but there was another shuffle and they she caught sight of it. The girl jumped back with a muffled squawk of surprise. A skeleton, an actual skeleton, was walking upright and right toward her. Not just any skeleton, a very tall skeleton with outrageous hair.

"Hello," the skeleton said, although he had not the parts to make any such noise.

"Uh, hi," Sanji managed, partially frozen in place.

"I only want to know one thing," the skeleton tittered.

"What?" Sanji asked nervously.

"Yohoho, may I see your panties?"

Sanji somehow found it in herself to be irritated. "I think my husband might take issue with that."

"Really?" He sounded disappointed.

Sanji considered the question. She didn't think Zoro would probably kid if someone saw her in her underclothes but then again it wasn't his call to make anyway. "No," she decided, "I don't actually think he would give a shit, but in not going to show you all the same."

"Please?" he asked, hopefully.

"No!" Sanji threw a stick at him. "What the hell are you anyway?"

"I ate a devils fruit and now I'm dead," he said cheerfully.

"It killed you?" She had never heard of a devils fruit directly killing someone.

"No, it let me live forever," he clarified.

"That's..." Sanji didn't exactly know what that was. If it was good or not. "Uh, neat?"

"Yohohoho, I don't think anyone's ever called it neat before."

There was a rustle to their side and Luffy emerged from the bush. "Sanji, wh-" he stopped when he saw the skeleton and his jaw dropped. "Wow! A real live dead person!" he he exclaimed.

Sanji picked up and shriveled acorn and threw it at his head. "Hey, idiot, it's rude to stare."

"Who are you?" Luffy wanted to know.

"I'm Brook the bard," the skeleton said, raising the fiddle at his side. Sanji hadn't noticed it before, she was too busy freaking out over the undead part of him.

"You can sing?!" Luffy asked, his eyes lighting up.

"I have a beautiful voice!"

"But you don't have a throat or tongue," Sanji said, "How do you even talk?"

"Magic," Brook laughed.

"Come on, Brook, you have to meet everyone!" Luffy dragged the bard toward their camp. Sanji followed on slightly behind them, watching Brook suspiciously. It seemed a little coincidental that they would just happen upon someone like this, and a devils fruit user at that. But he didn't seem hostile, so hopefully her fears were baseless.

"Guys!" Luffy exclaimed, as he entered their little camp. "Look what Sanji found," he pointed to Brook.

Brook got an assortment of odd looks from the rest of the group, although none of them unfriendly. Mostly just curious. Brook just grinned back at them with his wide, unchanging, skeletal mouth.

After a pause, Brook looked over at Sanji. "Which one is your husband?" he asked.

"That idiot," she pointed at Zoro's stupid face.

"Ah, good sir, would you take issue with your wife showing me her panties?" Brook asked bluntly.

Zoro made a face. "If she'll let you see them, go ahead, but they're not all that impressive."

Sanji kicked him in the side and he tripped over one of the logs they were using for the fire.

"You have to play for us," Luffy was saying as Franky stared to light up the fire. The sparks caught on the second attempt and a trickle of warmth burst forth from the spindly branches.

Brook gratuitously agreed to play for them, he did not lie in saying he was good. It was nice to have a singer in a place like this. It seemed to make the woods a less frightening place.

It had started to rain and everyone was huddled closely under a rain tarp that had been tied between four trees. They had enough room that they could sleep under it, but it wouldn't be very comfortable.

"What were you doing out here in this creepy place?" Usopp asked curiously.

"I once had a band of friends who set out with me to get to the city of One Piece, but alas, we were attacked by wolves not two miles from the city. By the time I ate my devils fruit and came back from the brink of death they were all gone," he said seriously, "But the past is in the past."

"Do you know what the city looks like?" wondered Chopper. No one seems to know anything about the place.

"Like any other city, but with a huge tree growing up out of it," Brook told them.

"Did you go back to it?" Sanji wondered, she would have gone back if she was unable to die.

Brook shook his head. "I couldn't bring myself to go inside on my own." But that was understandable too.

Night crept silently over the sky and they all settled down for sleep, all except Brook, but hopefully he had the decency not to murder anyone in their sleep. All the same they kept one of the living on watch all night, just to be safe. Sanji had a difficult time falling asleep, she was squished between Zoro and Luffy and she barely had enough room to lay her feet out. The one advantages to being married to Zoro was that he was very warm and she was supposed to sleep next to him, although no one would have objected if she hadn't, she almost felt selfish for it. She slid as close to him as she could, he was her husband after all. It wasn't like she wasn't allowed to be close to him, he was just warm. Just warm.

XxxX

They set off in the morning, and because Brook hadn't murdered anyone last light they decided to let him tag along with them. He knew the area better than them after all.

It was three days to the edge of the woods, to the windy wasteland. They stood where the trees abruptly ended. One Piece had a dead circle around it's tree. The closer you were to the actual city, the less life there was.

Nami was looking down at the map in her hands like she was trying the squish the miles into a shorter distance with her mind.

"Don't worry, Nami," Luffy said, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder, "We only have to go halfway."

The ginger haired girl looked confused, "What do you mean, we only have to go halfway?"

"We need to go halfway there and then I know a short cut," Luffy grinned.

"Why didn't you say that before, you idiot?" Sanji asked, Luffy had an amazing ability to be stupid sometimes, it was truly astounding.

The boy shrugged, "It didn't didn't seem important."

"Didn't seem- dammit, Luffy!" Nami groaned. "Fine, you know a short cut, okay. Where exactly do we need to go?"

Luffy thought for a moment, "Um, Ace said that if I ever needed to go back, I should go halfway there and then I'll know what to do."

"Who's Ace?" Usopp asked.

"My brother," Luffy said sadly, "but he's dead now."

"Oh." Usopp said awkwardly.

"So, you don't know where to go? Just halfway and that's all you know," Nami said impatiently, eager to get away from uncomfortable topics.

"Yep, that's it."

"Well then, straight on I guess." Nami pointed directly into the open plane at the hazy distance and began to walk forward as the others followed her lead.

In the first day they made it farther than Nami thought they would. They had yet to see any of the wolves Brook spoke of, but the wind was almost enough to knock them off their feet and that was it's own trial. The farther thy walked, the more Sanji wondered how an animal like a wolf could survive in an environment like this one, there couldn't be much for them to eat. Sanji was chilled to the bone and her face stung, burnt by the wind. That night they made their camp behind the largest rock they could find, which wasn't especially large. It was about eight feet tall and four across. Not the best, but it was the best they had for now.

They sat on the side away from the wind, eating the bits of food they had stored up, they ate little because they had to make it last. It was difficult to hold Luffy back from the temptation of food, but Sanji threw herself into it whole heartedly.

At dusk, on the fifth day, they saw the wolves. They just seemed to show up with no real warning. They appeared off to the right of them, running along parallel to their path. Even at a distance they could tell that something about them was not quite right. It was hard to place what it was, but somehow the movements felt wrong. It was rather erie.

They didn't attack, they just hovered in their peripheral vision, a looming threat. They made it very difficult to sleep, just knowing that they were out there. Plus, they howled at night.

The ninth day the wolves attacked. They had been growing closer by the day and at twilight on day nine one of the wolves ran close to their group. Usopp had been on watch at the time. Upon seeing the running wolf he squawked it's approach and loosed an arrow, it hit the beast in the right eye but it didn't seem to mind at all.

It continued to approach them, it's courage drawing the other wolves closer.

The attack was short lived because Robin squished them all with a few well placed hands. Strangely enough this didn't kill the beasts, they only ran off for a time. They continued to attack them at any chance they could get, it was a constant threat.

It wasn't only the wolves they had to look out for, there were birds that would swoop down and try to make a go at then with their sharp talons. Then there was the threat of not having enough food. Out in this place there was nearly nothing of sustenance to keep them going. All they had was the food on their backs and the occasional desert carrot, something that Usopp knew a lot about having grown up in a desert. The two pants weren't exactly the same, but similar enough. Water wasn't quite so difficult to find, it rained enough for them catch and store a good amount as they traveled.

On day twenty four, Nami predicted that they were approximately halfway to the city but Luffy said they hadn't gone far enough, so they walked another two days before Luffy suddenly stopped his walking with a strange expression on his face.

"What is it?" Sanji managed to croak, her throat was sore from the recent lack of water they were experiencing.

Luffy shook his head slightly. "I need a knife," he said with a dazed sounding voice.

Sanji brought out one of her daggers and handed it over. Luffy took it my the hilt and drew it roughly against the inside of his wrist despite Chopper's protest. The rubber boy knelt on the rocky ground and let his blood seep into a crack in the surface. A drop for each person present. Then Luffy sat back and nothing happened.

"So, was that it?" Zoro asked, he had been expecting something spectacular.

"We have to sleep now," Luffy said confidently, laying back on the hard ground.

"Luffy, it's the middle of the day," Sanji protested.

"I believe it would be wise to follow these words, although I suggest we find a better place to sleep," Robin said with the hint of a smile on her face.

Luffy hopped back up and they found the largest rock they could. When they were all sorted out Luffy instructed them to sleep as they were, not laying out like they would for a camp. Sleep was difficult to find, but they were all exhausted, so it wasn't as hard as it might have been. Luffy was the first one asleep, he seemed to fade slowly out of existence as he lay there. Sanji only saw it because she happened to be having trouble sleeping. It was even harder to sleep after that.

Brook was next to go, although it was hard to say if he really slept as he had no eyes to rest. Off went Robin and Franky. And Sanji still couldn't even keep her eyes shut for long. She just kept rolling around until Zoro poker her in the side. She jumped and glared over at him.

"Are you even trying?" he hissed so quietly she could barely hear him over the wind.

"I can't sleep," she frowned.

"Well, try harder," he commanded.

Sanji rolled her eyes, "I would have thought you would be first to go. You sleep like the dead."

"Someone had to make sure that everyone makes it," he told her. That was true, and what better person for the job than one who could fall asleep almost on command.

He pulled her close just as Chopper was disappearing. Zoro was just as warm as he always was, burning his presence into her skin. The warmth was a relief. This was becoming too familiar, too safe. It was strange. He rubbed soothing circles over her skin and she began to finally get drowsy.

Sanji woke up in a different place than where she had fallen asleep. Instead of being rocky, the ground was smooth, dry and cold. She felt sore all over, but sat up all the same. She wasn't sure what woke her up, but she was suddenly at attention. Everyone else was there, except Usopp, Nami, and Zoro.

They were at the base of a large wall, the sort that are built around large cities.

"We're here, Sanji!" Luffy shouted happily, extending a hand to her.

She took it and stood unsteadily. "What?"

"Look," he pointed to the right, opposite the wall. Past a sea of empty and abandoned building a, there was a tree. A tree so large that it the top wasn't even visible through the clouds. Sanji gaped at it and tried to take a step forward but tripped over Usopp, who had materialized under her feet. She stumbled but stayed upright, continuing to stare in awe at the huge tree.

It was almost hard to get the idea of this through her brain and there were devils fruits at the top of that thing as well. It was bizarre.

Nami shower up about ten minutes after Sanji had, and Zoro almost immediately after that. He had magical sleeping powers, or so it seemed.

After a few minutes of staring at the tree in wonder, it was decided that they should keep moving forward. Then they set off toward the city at an excited pace. Luffy had apparently been born here and there were stories about the people here, but they didn't see any sign of humans, or any other sort of beings.

Zoro was on edge all the while, looking over his shoulder every few minutes. He was convinced that they were being watched, there was just this creeping feeling up his spine.

Through the creepy city they marched until they made it to the base of the tree and saw that all the bark at around the sides had been peeled off. There had been storied about people eating the bark off the tree, but that had seemed like more of an exaggeration than anything. Maybe it really was true.

They stopped in front of the massive plant, trying to see all the way up to the top but it was impossible. The ground was stained around it's base, presumably where fruits had fallen and splatter across the ground but there were no rotting fruits so something must have picked them up.

"Monkey D. Luffy?" asked a cheerful sounding voice behind them. They spun to see red haired man with a scarred face standing in the direction from where they had just come.

"Shanks?" Luffy exclaimed, brightening immediately upon seeing the man and launched himself at the man.

The man, Shanks, was knocked to the ground, laughing all the way. "You have come to claim your right?" he asked.

Luffy nodded, "I brought my friends with me," he gestured to said friends.

Shanks stood and offered them a wave, "Good to meet you."

Luffy had mentioned the man before, he had said that he had given him his straw had before he left One Piece with his brother, but not much else.

"You know what we're supposed to be doing?" Zoro asked bluntly, " because he," he pointed to Luffy, "doesn't."

Shanks barked out a laugh, "Yes, I know what you're supposed to be doing. Come on, follow me." He lead them around the side of the tree to a tunnel carved into it's roots.

"Excuse me," Robin asked politely, "I was just wondering why the tree is striped of it's bark along the bottom."

"Ah, well there isn't much food out here, so all we have to eat are the desert carrots, tree bark, and the occasional fallen devils fruit. Although, recently we've been working on farming crops. We've had mixed results with that," he frowned leading them down the stairs. They went down, down, down into the depths of the earth and then down some more.

When they finally came to the bottom their legs burned with the effort of walking. They were in a small room attached to a hallway.

"Where are we?" Nami asked.

The Sanks appeared to ignore her, and led them through a series of rooms. With each step the atmosphere seemed to get more creepy. It was even more creepy because no one seemed to want to say anything to break the tension. They continued on silently until they entered a room filled with skeletons.

"What the fuck is this?" Sanji breathed, in the quiet it sounded very loud.

"They were people who made it here. They weren't what was needed so they made their rest here," Sanks said seriously.

"You killed them?" Nami asked in horror.

"No," the read haired man shook his head, some of them came to live with us, some of them we had to kill."

"You say we, but we have yet to see anyone but you," Robin pointed out.

"You'll meet the others soon enough," Sanks promised, "Anyway, when outsiders die we take their bones here to preserve them."

"Why?" Zoro asked.

Shanks shrugged, "Tradition."

And they continued quietly down the hallway. When the finally stopped, it was in front of a large, heavy looking door. The man struggled to open it at first but soon enough he leaned over and shoved it open.

There was a glitter and the door opened to a large room literally filled with treasure. Nami was nearly foaming at the mouth. Shanks paid the treasure no mind and walked through a path in the piles until they came to another room. They lost Nami somewhere along the way.

In this room there was a boat with a lion's head for a mast. Luffy's eyes lit up. "A pirate ship!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"It is yours," Shanks said, "all of it is, if you want it."

"Why?" asked Robin with a note of suspicion.

"Because it is written," he pointed to the back wall of the room. Usopp stepped close with a torch to see the faded illustrations of a boy who looked remarkably like Luffy and a gang of friends acquiring a ship.

"What's with that next picture?" Sanji asked pointing to the ship floating in what looked like a sea of blood. That wasn't ominous at all.

"It is written," the man repeated.

"That's a pretty weird thing to write about, don't you think," Sanji pointed out.

Shanks shook his head, "I don't write the prophecies, I'm only telling you what I know."

"Why couldn't Luffy just take the stuff while he was here before," Zoro asked.

"Because you guys wouldn't be here if he did that, and you're in the picture. Anyway, you have to leave immediately," he said.

"How the fuck are we supposed to take this boat with us? Drag it through the wasteland?" Sanji scoffed.

Shanks shook his head. "Wait right here," he told them, walking out of the room.

"Does anyone else think this is super weird?" Sanji asked nervously.

"It is very strange," Robin nodded, but I do not think that we are wished any ill will."

"I don't like it," Zoro grumbled.

"Me either," Usopp said, staring at the prophecy on the back wall.

"Shanks is trust worthy, he wouldn't do anything bad to us," Luffy frowned unhappily.

"How do you think they'll get us out of here?" Franky wondered.

"Magic probably," Chopper said.

"Can they do that?"

"I don't know, maybe."

They had to wait a long while before Shanks made his return. He came back with a whole host of haggard looking people. They all piled into the room together. Nami was pushed into the room with them, her hands full of gold. Four men came after her, carrying good with them.

"How much gold will you be taking?" Shanks asked.

"All of it," Nami said immediately.

Shanks frowned,"Ah, well, I can only give you about an hour before we have to send you off."

"Why?" Nami demanded.

"Because the prophecy-"

"Damn the prophecy, I want my gold!"

Shanks sighed and told his men to bring aboard as much gold as they could manage.

An hour later they only had a fraction loaded up, but the men stopped carrying the gold anyway, much to Nami's disappointment.

"You guys should all get on board," Shanks told them.

"What are you going to do?" Luffy asked.

"You'll see," he promised, placing a hand on Luffy's head, "I wish you could stay longer."

"Why do we have to go now?"

"Because the prophecy says so, now go on. You have places to go," he ushered them along. They practically had to drag Nami onto the boat.

"You'll end up just west of the newest seaside," Shanks called up when they were onboard. People were starting to gather up around the boat.

"I don't like this," Sanji said nervously, just as a mumble of chanting worked it's way up from the crowd. The sound swelled once it started. Leaning over the side of the ship, they could see the people moving along with the sound.

The creepy feeling was only increased when daggers were unsheathed.

"What are they doing?" Usopp whispered in a trembling voice.

The daggers were instantly put to use, drawn across the arms of as May people were in the room. They took their shed blood and smeared it over the side of the ship.

"What the fuck?" Sanji grimaced, when suddenly there was a snap and the feeling of being squeezed through a tube. Reality seemed to shift into a blur around them. Sanji lost consciousness before she could even comprehend what the fuck was going on.

When she opened her eyes the bright blue sky was looking back at her. She rolled onto her stomach, her head spinning like a top. When she tried to stand the ground seemed to shift under her and she toppled over. Beside her the rest of the group was also beginning to stir.

Sanji crawled on her hands and knees to the railing, peering over the side. Below waves were rocking across the boat, washing away any traces of blood. They were actually in the ocean. Out on the open sea, no one to rule over the law or boss them around. Sanji grinned as Luffy joined her in strait at the waves. He let out a little cheer at the sight, jumping up and toppling over when he lost his balance.

When the rest of their group joined them they all looked dumbstruck.

"How did they-" Usopp started.

"Blood magic," Chopper answered.

"Will they be okay?"

"The fact that the ship on the wall was surrounded in a pool of what looked like blood leads me to think no, but who really knows," Sanji shrugged.

"Now we get to be pirates," Luffy grinned.

"Are we going to raid ships?" Usopp asked.

"Yep, and well become the most infamous pirates on the sea, feared by all," he cackled.

"I suggest we start by raiding royal ships in order to aid the Lady Vivi," Robin suggested, "After we find a port to stock up in, of course."

"Yes, exactly! This is going to be the best!"

There was a brief moment where they all looked at each other, overwhelmed with excitement. After their little moment of peaceful reflection on their luck had passed they rushed around to better explore the ship, not that they hadn't before but it was different now that they were actually sailing.

Sanji cooked them dinner, or rather, she presented them with the carrots and tree bark that they had been given as rations.

After dinner, she went out to the deck and leaned over the side, watching the sun set. It turned the sea as red as blood. Maybe that was what the prophecy had meant, it was hard to tell.

She didn't move when she heard someone approach her, she knew it was Zoro. She had his footsteps memorized.

"What?" she asked as he took his place at her side, their arms not quite touching.

"I was just wondering."

"Wondering what?"

"If you're ready to sail off into the sunset now," he grinned.

"I'm beyond ready," she grinned back, shoving him lightly. "I don't think I've ever been more ready for anything in my life." She was finally free.

The End.

XxxX

A/N: Zoro's full name is a mouthful, I can't say it well.

And I would say a large selection of land is good enough pay back for with holding a secret. Sanji did say she would repay her debt to Vivi. I like Vivi, she's cool.

It took two guys 71 days to cross the Gobi desert so that was my basis for crossing a desert.

This is a story of convenient travel, because medieval times kind of suck like that. I should have named it blood magic ex machina -_-

What the fuck happened to the plot? I'll tell you what happened, I got bored of writing it and just wanted to finish. Undeveloped story is underdeveloped, I'm so sorry. I'm a horrible person. It was only supposed to be 30k D': Anyway, it was really fun to write and I hope you enjoyed it. If you guys really want I can write an epilogue, but you would have to tell me what you would want in it because I have no idea and I kind of liked leaving it where it was. Anyway, until next time.

Live long and prosper.


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